ranjanxroy
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I'm a huge proponent of sponsored content, but it is kinda awkward that not only did Braintree sponsor the first Pando "Art of Starting Up" series, but there's a Braintree ad directly above the flattering headline: http://i.imgur.com/UGQIM0V.jpg.
I love what Braintree is doing as a company, but a reminder of when the whole sponsored series / post thing gets a bit awkward.
@Calbean I think they're just two different experiences. When an item I searched for on Amazon ten times and didn't buy, follows me around the web, I might be annoyed, but I've often ended up purchasing it.
That by no means provides me that serendipitous shopping experience that Gilt or Fab often do ("oh wait, I didn't even know I needed a short-sleeve dress shirt but I now can't wait until it arrives")
It's the classic hard vs. soft sell. Both have always had their place for centuries.
@crucible Ah, I'm an idiot. I guess for a fully digital currency it's just as easy to pay in infinitesimal fractions for goods so the actual aggregate purchasing power can continue to grow. This led me to the whole Satoshi Nakamoto path...now that is a story to be told.
Isn't Menlo Ventures an investor in both Pando and Lumosity?
If Bitcoins max out at 21 million bitcoins, with nearly 75% already created by 2016, even under incredible appreciation...how can they really displace entire economies and currency? It's fun for now and can be an interesting tool for either cross-border commerce, but given the limitations on nominal growth, how much can it really affect people's day to day lives?
...and I'm usually the first on any of these bandwagons.
Thanks @Paul Bianco for the reply. I learned all this stuff back in my finance days and thought about it in terms of conventional / capital-heavy businesses. Interesting (but not surprising at all) that in a digital world as incremental production and distribution costs are virtually zero, GAAP isn't adapted. Thanks again for the reminder on this!
Curious about the very last line and marketing costs. If you pay for lead generation, wouldn't that be a COGS? With SaaS products, feel quality lead generation is pretty much the only major incremental cost, with otherwise extremely minimal marginal cost.
@bgoldberg Great post. The cultural differences at the last place I worked between commercial and editorial were almost depressing. I can't count the number of times the word "commercial" was used disparagingly. I think Jonah Peretti has shown the greatest leadership in this area, more along the lines of what @hamishmckenzie seems to advocate, almost 'separate but equal': http://cdixon.org/2012/07/24/buzzfeeds-strategy/
Only confusion from my end is the platform from which you're writing this. Pando has an extremely strong editorial culture, but doesn't seem to be that egalitarian paradise you're speaking of. http://diseruption.com/selling-is-human
Today Twitter broke the bombing news to me, kept me informed very early on, started to get a bit sensationalist and even stupid at points while concurrently delivering me very valuable information (city phone numbers...I'm from Boston and reposted to Facebook and turned out to be very helpful for some friends).
It'd be nice to not read news and just reflect weeks later over 5,000 word pieces....sometimes you actually need information. Twitter is just a means, not the end in itself.
Confused by the final paragraph. If the argument is that civilian blogs and computer-generated news are leading to the commodification of news, isn't the SCOTUSBlog part of that negative trend as a civilian blog (Goldstein is an attorney, not a trained journalist)? Guess that gets into the murky area of when is a blog still a blog (is Andrew Sullivan a civilian blog?)
Still remember that moment of watching the Obamacare decision with CNN on. As I watched Wolf Blitzer confidently state it being struck down, noticed on Twitter information indicating both sides, and sources I consider more credible saying it was upheld. Funny part, I never for a moment doubted the Twitter sources I trusted vs. CNN. Wasn't even a question.
I'm not sure if even Arianna Huffington would call Arianna Huffington an "expert in journalism".
@eringriffith His pocket square matches his tie matches his hat. How is he not in "the Good"???
Awesome post for those of us who didn't make it. Did you ever figure out if the guy in the suit/green tie/huge foam head was actually a marketing gimmick or just Austin hipster?
Most succinct, and correct, explanation of the future of media I've seen.
Thank you for pointing out the need for IFTTT integration. That's gonna be my deciding factor...or at least pinboard integration.
This could be the single best piece on the fundamentals of ad-driven content businesses I've come across. For all the endless debate about the future of journalism, can't tell you how important it is to have someone who's done this lay the numbers out clearly. Somehow they're too often ignored in the discussion.
Keep 'em coming.
@paulcarr Sorry for the confusion, haven't checked out NSFWCORP yet but will definitely do so. I guess related to the Thayer debate, does PandoDaily pay you for these pieces?
Great piece and think it's a good predictor / line in the sand for the future of media...where does Pando fit into this? I'm reading this anti-advertising tome while seeing a 99Designs ad/sponsorship, a Dio beta ad/sponsorship and a Braintree "try it today" ad/sponsorship all on the screen.
I know you guys don't do pageview or click-based advertising, not quite sure what the terms of 'sponsorship' are with these 3 brands, but shouldn't this piece be published somewhere without ads?
Fantastic post and glad someone called out the Fast Company post (which for reference was titled: "The Getaway Career: An Intimate Tale Of Jetting To Brazil In Search Of Love, Life, And A Startup Hit").
Are there any other international players other than 500 Startups to keep an eye on in the Mexican startup investment space?
Pando's best move: Letting you write about whatever you want, seriously amazing stuff. UNLEASH THE GOLDBERG!