My favorite part of reading S-1 IPO filings is always the risk factors. They are seemingly endless, as the company tries to cover its ass for all the things that might conceivably go wrong. But they are often very insightful in pointing to the real issues facing the company.
To save you reading it all, here is a highly selective summary of just a few of the interesting risk factors Facebook points to in its IPO filing:
If we fail to retain existing users or add new users, or if our users decrease their level of engagement with Facebook, our revenue, financial results, and business may be significantly harmed.
…
Any number of factors could potentially negatively affect user retention, growth, and engagement, including if:
* we are unable to successfully balance our efforts to provide a compelling user experience with the decisions we make with respect to the frequency, prominence, and size of ads and other commercial content that we display;
* there are changes in user sentiment about the quality or usefulness of our products or concerns related to privacy and sharing, safety, security, or other factors;
* we are unable to manage and prioritize information to ensure users are presented with content that is interesting, useful, and relevant to them;
* we adopt policies or procedures related to areas such as sharing or user data that are perceived negatively by our users or the general public;
etc.
Read more →
New! 2012+ Trends Map
By Ross DawsonRichard Watson of NowandNext.com and I have collaborated extensively over the years, including on numerous client projects. Richard is very well-known for his Trend Blend annual series of maps (here are the 2007-2010 trend maps). I collaborated with Richard on several of them but not on the more recent ones, partly as he is now based in London.
Our Trend Blend 2007+ map based on the London subway map spawned an entire genre of trend maps based on city train lines.
Here is Richard’s Trend Map for 2012, once again breaking new ground in communicating trends and ideas. Enjoy!
Click on the image for full-size pdf
New keynote speaker video
By Ross DawsonFor a keynote speaker having a good showcase video is critical. Potential clients want to get an idea of your style and presence before booking you, and usually a video is the only way to provide that.
I have just finished producing a new keynote speaker video. This was long overdue as the last one wasn’t nearly as good as it should be. The new one is a big improvement, though I think there is more scope for improvement yet. This video is also on the front page of my new rossdawson.com website and on the video page.
I will soon write more about the process of creating a keynote speaker video. In the meantime, I would love your feedback on the video, including any suggestions for improvement.
Insights and perspectives on Facebook’s IPO
By Ross DawsonLast week I did an interview on radio 2SER on Facebook’s IPO and its future. You can listen to a podcast of the interview below.
A few key points I covered:
Read more →
Do you want to live forever?
By Ross DawsonFor any student of potential disruptive technological advances, life extension inevitably looms as one that could completely change the condition of humanity.
While there is heated debate about whether the current proposed approaches to life extension being proposed have any merit, there is no question that major advances are possible in the field.
Read more →
The future of radio will be a personal mosaic of global and local audio
By Ross DawsonOn Tuesday I was interviewed as part of a 30 minute panel discussion on ABC Queensland on the future of radio. The podcast of the program is here.
It was a wide ranging discussion, and we covered a lot of territory. At the conclusion of the program, when we were each asked to give our vision for the future of radio, I described what I see radio becoming.
As I pointed out, just as what we have thought of as TV is shifting to multi-channel video, radio is shifting to multi-channel audio, distributed over IP to a multitude of devices, notably mobile phones. However audio will remain an important media channel forever, as there are many reasons we sometimes want just audio without visual accompaniment.
Read more →
Facebook’s IPO and its plans for China and global domination
By Ross DawsonYesterday I was interviewed by Radio Australia in a piece titled Facebook IPO filing reveals China plans.
Their website includes a podcast and transcript of the segment. Below are the parts where I spoke.
BAHFEN: The question I put to Ross is…what do these excerpts from Facebook’s IPO filing say about its intentions, with regard to China?
DAWSON: Facebook has global ambitions and the biggest potential market of all is China. So Facebook has been very keen to get into China for some time, yet it is blocked inside China. In fact Mike Zuckerberg has been learning Mandarin which seems to probably reflect his ambition to get Facebook into China. At the moment there seems to be no possible way in the short to medium term that China will open up to Facebook, but it is possible and it’s certainly something which is high on the long term strategic agenda for Facebook.
Read more →
The many and varied risk factors in Facebook’s IPO
By Ross DawsonMy favorite part of reading S-1 IPO filings is always the risk factors. They are seemingly endless, as the company tries to cover its ass for all the things that might conceivably go wrong. But they are often very insightful in pointing to the real issues facing the company.
To save you reading it all, here is a highly selective summary of just a few of the interesting risk factors Facebook points to in its IPO filing:
If we fail to retain existing users or add new users, or if our users decrease their level of engagement with Facebook, our revenue, financial results, and business may be significantly harmed.
…
Any number of factors could potentially negatively affect user retention, growth, and engagement, including if:
* we are unable to successfully balance our efforts to provide a compelling user experience with the decisions we make with respect to the frequency, prominence, and size of ads and other commercial content that we display;
* there are changes in user sentiment about the quality or usefulness of our products or concerns related to privacy and sharing, safety, security, or other factors;
* we are unable to manage and prioritize information to ensure users are presented with content that is interesting, useful, and relevant to them;
* we adopt policies or procedures related to areas such as sharing or user data that are perceived negatively by our users or the general public;
etc.
Read more →
52% of Americans did mobile phone research while in stores over the holiday season
By Ross DawsonThe cross-over between physical and online retail is not just for innovators and techies. It is the way people shop. In a 30 day period spanning Christmas, 52% of Americans who have mobile phones (and who cares about the rest? :-) ) used mobile phones to help them make buying decisions, according to research from Pew Internet.
Read more →
ABC TV: Facebook’s IPO, Apple’s cash pile, and RIM’s woes
By Ross DawsonI was interviewed last night on ABC’s The Business in a broad-ranging discussion about Facebook’s IPO, Apple’s cash pile, and Research In Motion’s future.
Click on the image to watch the interview on the ABC website
I’ll add some more comments on these very interesting topics shortly.
The headache (and opportunity) of managing your company’s online reputation
By Ross DawsonIn a world of instantaneous information flows, managing company reputation is ever more fraught.
An interesting article in Techworld titled How to manage your online reputation goes into the issue, describing how pharma firm GlaxoSmithKline had one of its trademarks hijacked by a dodgy company. The piece goes on:
The article then suggests some strategies, including this quote from me:
Read more →