Startup Addict Musings

I stumbled upon a USA Today article entitled “The 4-hour workweek,” a new book by 29 year-old Timothy Ferriss. I’ve yet to read the book but the premise fits nicely with the Startup Addict mantra “Dream Big, Be Great”. According to the article the three magic ingredients are:

1. Time
2. Mobility
3. Income

Time is based on the 80/20 rule. 80% output with 20% input. Work smarter not harder. Mobility is based on not being tied to any one particular location. Run your business from various locations across the globe. Lastly, Income (duh) is based on automating a cash flow stream….tactile concepts that have been plugged by wealthy individuals for decades. The Rich Dad series and Robert Allen’s principles will give you the sage advice needed on the automated income subject. All in all, it’s probably a book I’ll add to my shelf and hopefully be able to convince Timothy to create a profile and become an advisor on Startup Addict to share his experiences and guide budding entrepreneurs.

Rumor has it Amazon is putting the hungry eye on Netflix, in the $2 billion range or 15x EBITDA. Although states sales tax could be a deal killer with the numerous distribution centers Netflix has. Meanwhile back at the bat cave Yahoo is rumored to be targeting Facebook in the $1 billion dollar price range. Facebook continues to hold out for the coveted $2 billion price tag.

Is Facebook really worth over 3x the price tag as the Myspace purchase? Maybe the Youtube purchase is still fresh in everyone mind. Facebook is a more concentrated niche but has substantially less users than Myspace. In addition, Facebook is now opening up to outsiders (non-college students) in order to scale and attract more eyeballs.

As the market continues to attract scorching valuations like the g0-go web 1.0 days, one has to ask the 23-year old genius creator….isn’t a cool$1 billion enough? It would certainly go along way in paying off the student loans.

As I reported in an earlier acquisition post, CBS continues its’ rampage for new media acquisitions as the network devours sticky media properties. The very audience that has abandoned the network (or never arrived) is being brought back through a wave of web 2.0 partnerships and acquisitions. First it was Wallstrip for $5 million, now it is Last.fm for $280 million, it is being rumored that Last.fm has upwards of 15 million users making that the mere bargain of $18.66 per existing user.

I do have to give credit to CBS. The network joins a minority of traditional media companies that have finally figured out Web 2.0 (beyond the bubble) is a lot like the Burger King motto….”Content your way…right away”. The amount of content that a media entity like CBS (Viacom conglomerate parent) owns is staggering and clearly broadcast (traditional media in general) is on the decline and continues to fragment to an increasing number of media distribution choices, many that do not happen in real time ergo ipod and tivo. Finding new and multiple distribution outlets to monetize the same content just makes sense and is paramount when traditional revenue streams are drying up. I remember from the new media division I launched at Scout in Boston my year 2000 mantra was ( I have always been guilty of adopting too early) “create once and distribute many.” One of these days I actually post some early power point presentations I prepared for angel funding but again I digress.

In fear of a totally supportive post, one bone of contention to mention for the CBS acquisition of Last.fm is the uncertainty it possesses with the recent Internet royalty ruling (debacle rather). The Copyright Royalty Board (CRB), created by Congress to settle royalty disputes in the music business, implemented a per channel and music fee structure that will cripple Internet radio in the United States. This ultimately may not be a big deal for CBS because the pockets run deep and the sum of the parts are greater than the whole…but it will sting the profit a bit and small radio stations (free choice in general) will be eliminated. My right-wing bleeds out a bit when politics interfer with private enterprise. In the meantime, let’s keep our eye on the ball or at least CBS.