I can’t say I that I much enjoyed using Blackboard while I studied at Fordham–the site was slow, one-dimensional, broke down constantly, and had an archaic, mid-90s feel. It was certainly in need of complete overhaul back in 2008, since most of my teachers used it only as a glorified repository for slides and handouts.

But, I can see the potential in investing in a site like Blackboard–especially in the context of cloud computing. Currently the site uses managed hosting, which unlike the cloud, is limited in scope as it requires universities to engage with Blackboard to install the software on servers locally. Blackboard personnel are required to visit the universities to administer the installation and manage the process.

If Blackboard transitions to cloud computing, each university could sign up for the service by downloading the software directly from the web. Universities will not have to allocate resources for maintaining their local servers, which has been a problem in the past and led to service issues for students and faculty (i.e. “Blackboard is down for maintenance”).

For the cloud to be viable, Blackboard would need to ensure that their system was up and running 24/7 (which would be pricey). But, there are cost savings associated with not having to vet and manage technology locally at each university, which would simplify Blackboard’s maintenance and support operations. In this way, Blackboard could function within a ”software as a service” (SaaS) model and charge fees on a per-user basis.

Hopefully, the team at Providence sees the potential for a site like Blackboard and can shake things up once they take it private.

I found that one of the team members, Taylor Davidson, has crafted a pretty useful Excel template for estimating the potential financial reality of a new business venture. At unstructuredventures, Davidson offers a financial modeling template for startup companies to use for estimating sales, costs, and net income–essentially forecasting the profitability of a new company for up to five years.

For someone starting out without any financial modeling experience, this could be a true time saver and help streamline the process for determining a new company’s results over the course of its first few years. I have personally had to create models from scratch before (one of the more complicated being a forecast for Whole Foods), and I can appreciate the uniform template he provides and the benefits of having a the structure of a sound model without much of the initial setup involved in creating/formatting/linking the spreadsheets.

If you are thinking about starting your own business, this is a cost efficient method for estimating financial results, based on customizable drivers (play around with these, as certain variables can have unexpected effects). Although it’s not the most complex model out there, Davidson states on the site that a more powerful update will be out this summer. But for the price (a suggested contribution of $15), it’s hard to pass up, especially if you are serious about planning for the future of your startup and want to avoid the time it takes to craft your own model.

On Friday, Facebook announced its next big move – to join the realm of data portability.  This new tech concept, which many are calling the next major move to open up social networking across the web, will be concentrated throught the site’s Facebook Connect technology.

Facebook Connect will allow Facebook members to connect the data in their profiles and personal user authentication to external web pages.  What this means is that Facebook users will be able to transfer their individual identities across networks–including names, personal info, interests, photos, friends, groups, events, etc.

This is a step in the right direction for social networks.  Data portability is not only about the transfer of data, but about giving people the ability to carry their personal identities with them wherever they want.  Facebook profiles are an evolving work of art for some people, and with the option to carry these pieces of themselves around the web, users may feel more inclined to reach out to new networks and enhance the web’s social climate.

Souce:  The Social

For one, I am twenty-five percent Armenian, including my last name (Ohanian – pronounced Ohanyan). Part of this trip was a search to uncover my family’s past and learn more about the culture and the people make up a large fraction of my identity. I had never been exposed to this part of my heritage, so going to Armenia would definitely be a blind and inspiring adventure.

Also, this turned out to be a great chance to observe the stark realities of an emerging nation. Armenia fits within an interesting post-Soviet region that has been steadily making a comeback following the fall of the USSR. Although the Southern Caucasus (which is made up of Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan) had been built into a strategically planned trading system under the Soviet machine, after its fall, this machine came to a tragic hault. These freed Soviet republics struggled with increasing infrastructural issues and problems concerning international trade.

My program, planned by the University of Georgia (USA), assimilated eight students from around the United States into the daily life of this his emerging nation, with residence in the capital city of Yerevan. With an emphasis on international business and relations, our group spent our days travelling on numerous field trips around the bustling city center and into the rural villages.

After visiting Parliament’s Foreign Ministry, the World Bank, US Embassy, United Nations, American Chamber of Commerce, USDA and USAID, rural and economic development agencies, and domestic businesses such as the Yerevan Brandy Company, Artashat Cannery, and various wineries and export-import enterprises, I noticed certain trends in development issues for the country moving forward. One of the most important challenges that I saw relevant to my studies was Armenia’s development of international business in this post-Soviet, open market setting. During 2002 to 2006, Armenia’s GDP growth averaged twelve percent per year—exceeding both of its neighbors in the Southern Caucasus region. Although Armenia has experienced recent economic success, its international role has not been widely developed or reorganized.

Throughout my fieldwork in the region, I’ve come up with some key points that Armenia should consider in order to further its development of international business and relations:

1. Before its collapse, the Soviet planning system built up a major industrial sector in Armenia, which furnished machinery, textiles, and other manufactured items to surrounding Soviet republics. Today, renewed structural reforms are crucial for Armenia’s long-lasting economic growth and export expansion now that many of these factories are no longer in operation. As evident in the past, there is much room for intensifying and broadening economic growth by increasing Armenian exports throughout the Caucasus. In order for this to occur, Armenia should first concentrate on developing its international ties within this region and focus on normalizing trade regulations with its neighboring countries. Although Turkey and Azerbaijan have currently closed their borders to Armenian goods, Armenia has never closed the borders from its own side. The country must continue to work towards regular relations with these two strategic nations, as open borders would aid in economic expansion by providing an increased market base for consumption of national goods.
2. Another issue concerning the development of international trade involves Armenia’s over-reliance on Russia. Stemming back to the era of the Soviet Union’s control of the Southern Caucasus region, Armenia is engulfed with Russian influences. Russia’s ongoing economic dominance in the region has created a structured attachment between the two countries. Although a good standing relationship with Russian markets is important and necessary for Armenia’s continued economic growth, Armenia must not succumb to strict dependence on Russian investment. Wealthy Russians are eating up Armenia’s key economic enterprises. In 2002 and 2003, suspicious “debt-to-equity” deals between the two countries granted Russia a large portion of the control over strategic Armenian enterprises. Russia now leads Armenia’s energy sector, dominating this valuable economic sector. Armenia must take steps to make sure that the government does not further surrender control over economic resources to foreign nations. In order to expand and create its own large-scale presence within other sectors, Armenia cannot afford to forfeit further strategic resources even if on the surface it may seem to improve foreign relations.
3. On the other hand, Armenia should also take steps to ensure that its internal regime of oligarchs does not hinder economic expansion abroad. Within the country today, most of the wealth is in the hands of forty or so families. The elite oligarchy has formed economic monopolies throughout Armenia, aiming to avert competition and dominate national markets. These sorts of monopolies flourish within closed economies that do not seek outside markets. By seeking out new entrepreneurs and international corporations to combat these monopolies, Armenia may be able lessen the influence of these internal oligarchs whose power may bend under the weight of increased international competition.
4. Armenia must take advantage of its location along the Euro-Asian frontier. With Russia to the north and Turkey and Iran along its borders, Armenia sits at a crossroads for an increased international trading base and further development as a tourist hotspot. In order for Armenia to obtain a greater economic presence within the region, the country must further work towards developing amiable relations with both Azerbaijan and Turkey and the rest of Eastern Europe. Even with a forthcoming resolution on Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan still inflicts closed borders with Armenia, which strains international relations further. This unresolved argument between the two countries must find culmination as soon as possible in order for Armenia to shake away its sense of vulnerability within the region. Due to such disputed relations with Azerbaijan and Turkey, Armenia is often bypassed as a route between the two countries—further disrupting potential economic benefits stemming from international transport fees, etc. Regional trade through the Southern Caucasus would greatly benefit the economies of each of these nations, providing fresh markets within a familiar proximity. For example, the Ceyhan-Baku pipeline disregards an easier and more direct pathway through Armenia, as it totally bypassing the nation on an irregular loop through Georgia. In the future, Armenia should be more vocal about such situations, not only by criticizing these countries’ decisions but also by clearing explaining and outlining the positive results that may arise by dealing with and through Armenian territory. Perhaps a less expensive and more effective pipeline could have been built if Armenia was included in the plan as well.
5. If Turkey and Azerbaijan continue to blockade trade with Armenia, the country’s isolation between two enemies will eventually create further burdens. Armenia’s exports are mostly isolated within the Georgia-Russia transit line, which is not the most beneficial for the region considering Georgia’s unstable government and Russia’s imposing domination over Armenia’s economic enterprises. In order to expand exports further outward from these two markets, Armenia’s relations with its bordering nations must first be resolved. This would grant Armenia an important and lucrative role in regional trade and energy resources from the area. If resolution is not possible immediately, Armenia’s international trading with other Eastern European nations must be continually weighed for expansion. By seeking out new and foreign markets, especially where large Diaspora communities are located, Armenia can locate intense pockets of demand worldwide and concentrate sufficiently on exporting to these international locations.
6. This leads to Armenia’s important economical advantage with its widespread Diaspora communities living around the globe. These Armenian people who have adopted themselves to foreign lands are a large market for Armenian exports. Further, the lobbying efforts of such groups, as evident in with the Armenian National Committee of America and the Armenian Assembly in the United States, aid in granting such countries access to these foreign goods. Already, numerous food and beverage companies have been exporting to Armenian Diaspora communities worldwide with great success. In order for Armenia’s international trade to develop further, a greater number of companies should contemplate exporting products overseas to such locations, perhaps even opening these markets beyond the usual food and beverage industries. Armenia should fully utilize the potential of the international Diaspora to hasten the country’s expansion economically, venturing beyond simple humanitarian efforts. By receiving direct investments from countries with large Diaspora communities, Armenia may be able to conduct more business with international firms. For example, Indian Diaspora were able to open Motorola and IBM locations within Armenia and oversee the continued operation of these companies in the country. By further developing the ties between Armenia’s businesspeople and the global Diaspora communities, Armenia can benefit from increased international interest and financial relations. This may open the door for such eager-to-help Diaspora to seek means beyond simple monetary remittances in order to assist the international expansion of Armenia.
7. Another growing development issue concerning international business is the lack of transparency associated with the country’s customs regulations. Such regulations are not explicitly stated or enforced correctly, and much of the law is arbitrary in practice. The government offers very little assistance for international companies, as they are simply interested in collecting fees. When importing to Armenia, companies pay customs duties, yet the customs department does not take any receipt for payments. This action leaves lots of space for corruption within the Armenian government officials, which is a major problem not only within the customs department, but the entire governmental body. Such rampant corruption within Armenia’s government precludes sustainable economic success both internally and abroad. Fewer companies will be willing to invest within Armenia’s economy if governmental rules and restrictions remain unclear and arbitrarily enforced. Reputable companies will not perpetually acquiesce to paying off governmental and other officials with bribes in order to carry out their business or invest within the country. This is a further issue that the country must resolve in upcoming years in order to create a safer, more attractive environment for international business. Reforms for increased accountability, official oversight, and law enforcement are crucial for Armenia to present itself as a credible and legitimate partner in trade. By moving towards web-based filings and payments, this may provide greater transparency in governmental transactions and present pay rates and fees that are visible and knowable. If Armenia concentrates on developing more electronic technologies, this may aid in combating corruption through timely electronic payments, providing visible instructions and suitable means for companies to keep some corrupt practices in check. International companies are not too eager to seek out business with corrupt or sketchy governments, so the more reforms that are put into place to pressure dishonest and fraudulent officials, the better set Armenia will be for international trade with other nations.

Now, I’m not saying that these are the only kinks that need to be worked out, because I’m sure there are many more that I haven’t noticed. Clearly, Armenia faces persistent international and internal issues, both with its surrounding neighbors and struggling infrastructure. But while its economy has shown great strides within the past few years, Armenia’s position within international trade remains in a state of continuing development. The several challenges I’ve outlined above are only a start, as this nation strives to expand its external economic power and to develop its capacity to compete worldwide.

In order to eventually engage within the dealings of a successful venture capital firm, it is important for me to work at amassing an extensive knowledge of start-ups and financial skills. Understanding the business model and where drivers and holes fall into place is crucial for success within the industry. Also, direct work within a successful startup or media company would be great stepping stones for other work within the venture capital sector. A good number of funds exist, but one really needs to put the effort behind securing a position by gaining sufficient industry experience and knowledge beforehand.

A good way for me to gain access to the VC thought-leaders and the industry as a whole, is to stay involved with influential bloggers, going to local NYC tech meetups, and keeping my eyes open for stories and companies that interest me. By staying focused and being aware of the status of new and evolving tech businesses, I can more readily transition into the field of venture capital in the future.

Above all, it is always important to work on inter-personal skills and learning to read and understand others. A good sense of people is crucial for betting on ideas and motivating others to work with you—both in good times and in bad. Venture capitalists must keep this in mind, as they are always taking a bet on people and their dreams. Sometimes they work out, and sometimes they don’t.

By working within the tech or media industry, reading along and commenting on influential bogs, and following up on current events and conferences, I will better be able to plan out where I want to take my future career. Also, lots of important relationships and connections can grow out of these different learning experiences, providing a significant network of experts that may help to enhance my professional development in the future.

Also, many entrepreneurs in the region now are taking on a more sophisticated stance on how they do business and create capital. There are a number of older, more experienced internet media entrepreneurs arising today than ever before. These professionals have run companies in the past, as executives with lots of know-how to bring to the plate. Instead of investing in lots of youth-minded startups with little experience in running a business, venture capital firms are increasingly looking to fund these sort of quality people with lots of experience to back themselves up.

Further, as venture capital progresses into the future, many startups that are profitable now in the short term, may find it difficult to continue to bring in increased revenues. At such a point, instead of abandoning ship as entrepreneurs had in the past, these leaders will probably look to keep their companies running through advertising dollars. Such funds would be able to cover hosting costs, and these failed startups (now at a neutral state) will not necessarily create such a large mess as in years before. In this way, the entrepreneurs will be able to start new projects without having to worry about any real disaster at such companies.

Also, as within many other industries, venture capital has been affected by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. SOX has restricted exit opportunities, making it more difficult to for funds to invest in start-ups. While the future of the law may still be amended in the near future, this is still an economic obstacle. On a brighter note for startups, many companies are putting increased effort into spending on IT departments, which is a plus for the tech startups after having experienced a slump in this sector within the past few years.

The first topic that I discussed with these individuals centered on the basic situation of venture capital in New York City today. From what I have gathered, VC is at one of its most active eras within the city. Since New York is known for its innate entrepreneurial spirit and superb financial infrastructure, the venture market here is poised for tremendous growth. Although there is not as much intense VC activity as in California or Boston, there is a great amount of money and startup spirit in New York—there have even been a number of entrepreneurs knocking out over three or four projects, always striving to be the next big thing.

The advantages for tech companies in New York are definitely on the rise:
· major center for advertising and media companies
· financial services expertise
· hedge fund abundance (for supplying investments)
· lots of M&A activity
· numerous designers, marketing, ad sales people
· central location along the East coast

On the other hand, NYC has some drawbacks. Most of the difficulties facing tech startups here stem from the exorbitant price of living of the city. Some of these disadvantages include:
· the lack of sufficient and economical office space
· very high NYC taxes
· quality of life issues (vs. the sunny West coast)
· excessive prices for customary business services (accounting, legal, etc.)
· less engineering students out of college

Although NYC has not been known to produce too many technical, engineering experts and skilled practitioners, the startups in this industry are moving further away from this sort of specialty. Now, as technology becomes more of a commodity, companies focus more on providing services to solve existing problems with tech instead of creating and inventing new tech processes. Since information technology is headed towards providing creative solutions and alternatives for television, music, etc., New York may not be at a disadvantage at all.

Also, unlike the West coast market—which is frothier in terms of valuation—many entrepreneurs are being funded at good values. Unlike the Web 1.0 era, there are many more startups focusing on creating legitimate, lasting businesses with models that produce real revenues. One of the most lucrative and evolving areas now is digital media, and NYC homes the heads of most of the major media moguls. As digital media takes off, NYC has the potential to become an even greater hub, as a walk down Madison Avenue displays the headquarters of a good number of America’s most influential media firms. Also, revenue from advertising is plays a major role in most of these new startups—so this city seems a perfect fit.

Which University produces the richest Dot Commers?

This is my list of dot-com company founders. If I didn’t include you or your company, add a note to the comments!

Note: this list is for fun, and is in no way intended to knock Harvard or Yale…

Also Note: I am not suggesting it is better to drop out than go to Stanford…

1. Dropouts: $131.36 Billion

*Bill Gates Microsoft 56 Billion
*Paul Allen Microsoft 18 Billion
*Larry Ellison Oracle 21.5 Billion
*Steve Jobs Apple 20 Billion
*Michael Dell Dell 15.8 Billion
*Mark Zuckerberg Facebook 1 Billion (2006 rejected buyout offer)
*Kevin Rose Digg 60 Million+ (Business Week August, 2006)

2. Stanford University: $38.9 Billion

*Larry Page Google 16.6 Billion
*Sergey Brin Google 16.6 Billion
*David Filo Yahoo $3 Billion
*Jerry Yang Yahoo 2.2 Billion
*Reid Hoffman Linkedin 500 Million (my best guess…he invested in Digg, Technorati, Facebook; original PayPal board member)

3. Tufts University: $10.2 Billion

*Pierre Omidyar Ebay 10.1 Billion
*Dan Lewis Armchair GM $500k
*Aaron Wright Armchair GM $500k
*Ittai Korin Portfolio Science unk

4. Princeton University: $3.6 Billion

*Jeff Bezos Amazon 3.6 Billion

5. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign: $600 Million (estimated)

*Marc Andreesen Netscape $253 Million (in 2004)
*Steve Chen YouTube unk (some part of 1.65 Billion)
*Jawed Karim YouTube unk (some part of 1.65 Billion)

6. Indiana University of Pennsylvania: $500 Million (estimated)

*Chad Hurley YouTube (less than half of 1.65 Billion)

7. Claremont Colleges: $30 Million (estimated)

*Randy Saaf Media Defender (some part of $42.5 Million)
*Michael Arrington TechCrunch $3 Million (wild guess)
*Phil Hilmes Audyssey unk
*Haydn Hamilton GreenPrint unk
*Dominic Mazoni Audacity opensource
*Jonathan Stokes ValueWiki $5

8. Fordham University: $25 Million (estimated)

*Jason Calacanis Weblogs $25 Million (Price of Weblogs purchase by AOL)

9. University of Virginia: $20 Million (estimated)

*Steve Huffman Reddit $10 Million (completely my guess, Conde Nast did not disclose buyout price)
*Alexis Ohanian Reddit $10 Million (completely my guess, Conde Nast did not disclose buyout price)

10. The Longtail…

*Auburn University, Jimmy Wales Wikipedia, Wikia Net Worth Unknown

*Johns Hopkins, Dave Sifry Technorati Net Worth Unknown

*Luther College, Drew Curtis Fark Net Worth Unknown

*Yale, Justin Kan Justin.TV Net Worth Unknown

My Methodology

I tried to include all the major web companies that have an identifiable “founder.” That is, some important sites like Flickr and MySpace seem to have been developed by corporations. Others, like AOL, evolved over time with many notable contributors.

The list includes two notable Harvard dropouts, Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates. Yale did not really make the list. It should also be noted that four of the five world’s richest people are college dropouts.

My family’s toy-sized Yorkie, aptly named Xena (“warrior-puppy”), was also in attendance this weekend. Xena has became a major fixture in my house since I’ve gone off to college. My Mom and aunt rescued her from Russia, or Turkey, or maybe it was the window of Puppy Palace down the street, but either way, she’s a small dog with a big attitude. So, when Menu Foods Inc., the prime supplier of pet food for various brands including Iams and Nestle’s Purina, announced last month that about sixty million containers of its product had been tainted with a deadly chemical, my family of course was concerned. Xena is a proud customer of Iams, usually devouring their dry food on a daily basis.

However, now that Menu Foods has continued its product recall even further this past weekend by adding twenty-two types of dog biscuits to the list, Xena is left with increasingly scant options. My family has not been able to find an adequate replacement for a good, dry dog feed from any of the local supermarkets, which usually almost exclusively carry food supplied by Menu Foods. With bare shelves in Aisle 7 and a hungry pup at home, my mother was the one who decided to seek out other options. She, and others as well, have sought refuge in small, natural pet food producers of the local area. Since these providers make their own food naturally, they offer the safety guarantee that Menu Foods lacks.

Thus, what has been more or less dubbed a disaster for Menu Foods turns out to be a prime opportunity for these smaller, natural pet food companies to increase production and sales. In the Small Business section of Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal, there is an interesting article that goes into detail about the perils and gains of such an unexpected demand for the products of these smaller companies.

One such company, Evanger’s Dog and Cat Food Co., can hardly keep up with the escalating demand during this pet food recall. This Illinois producer sold 200 cases of food at a pet show over the weekend as opposed to the 40 they had prepared to dole out. Pet owners are on the prowl for companies such as Evanger’s, and with the recall’s outlook seeming bleaker everyday, the great surge in sales will be a large boost and serious test for these companies in the near future.

Because the recent demand is so large and entirely unexpected, small pet food providers are stepping up their work into overdrive in order to keep up with consumer demand. For example, Evanger’s estimates demand has tripled over the past three weeks in the US. With longer days and more hours, plants are working overtime in order to meet the needs of customers and fulfill orders as adequately and efficiently as possible.

This situation is a great insight into how industries function and companies turn around. Even when a major producer hits rock bottom and the pet food arena seems discouraging, there could always be an upside. The Menu Foods recall has granted an invaluable opportunity for smaller companies to step in and clean up the mess, by ramming up production as best they can and meeting demands without much delay. Not only will these smaller businesses receive a major increase in sales revenue, but hopefully their determined efforts to succeed and to assist the consumer will not be overlooked in the future–leading to new clients and continuing expansion.

(Came across this while reading Jason Calacanis’ weblog.)