Posted Over on the Yahoo Thread.....
To: JC Reddy (18352 )
From: Frederick Smart
Sunday, Jan 17 1999 11:06AM ET
Reply # of 18359
Hello Folks.....
I'm an active contributor over on the Novell boards on SI and Motley Fool. My other focus is Nextel - primarily on SI and Yahoo.
The biggest thing I see bringing down these bleeding edge success stories - of what I like to call "Internet Wave 2" - like Yahoo and Amazon.com is TRUST.
By trust I'm referring to the unltimate merging of public/business and private networks and their associated relationships. Companies that hire me essentially rent out my potential to build - if I'm young - or the value that's in the "trust relationships" I've cultivated over the years - if I'm older.
The internet allows my business relationships and private family relationships to merge/overlap. There are tools and options sprouting up all over the place for me to "claim" and take ownership of this trust I've invested in for MYSELF and my friends to benefit from.
This Internet Wave 2 - affiliate and partnership programs - is all about the rise of networking. This is a huge phenomenon. It means the existing corporations that survive this round are eventually going to have to "open up" and acknowledge they've lost control over their marketing, product development and distribution business models.
In short, the internet has checkmated ALL old model businesses. If a company is NOT mirroring the value of their investment in physical space or brands INTO virtual space, their business will be arbitraged down to nothing by their competitors that DO mirror this value.
The end game is TRUST - between people, groups, etc. That's what makes ALL commerce run. Someone, somewhere, sometime gets a sense of trust about a company, brand, person, etc.
What Amazon and Yahoo have to fear most is the ability for INDIVIDUALS to "go higher" and populate the same virtual world they have come to believe they would utimately own going forward. Remember, with the internet, the ultimate control is with the individual.
As with working for others, eventuall we all tire of populating someone else's trust pyramid, whether that's IBM, Microsoft or Yahoo. Claiming ownership of personal power and the unlimited potential of radiating trust is where the REAL game is at.
As for Gate's, he's has already been checkmated. Novell has the only directory technolology that's out there right now. NDS has the potential to become the switchboard of this new massive world of bandwidth. If Why 2K (NT 5.0) delays hasn't already, Gate's move with Banyan exposed him as a King with no clothes.
I respect the power behind this internet Wave 2 mania. It's no different than what happened with AOL and the ISPs (Netcom) 3+ years ago. Too few companies for Wall Street to value - which leads to bubble-like valuations until the marketplace cools down and takes an alka seltzer.
All the Yahoo tools and gadgets in the world mean nothing if someone else is able to win over the end users TRUST.
AOL is on the right path. Check out the news that AOL is becoming an MLM organization. This is a HUGE shot across everyone's bow. Bringing Netscape into the fold will enable them to deliver on this with gusto. But remember, the individual still holds the power. To the extent that Steve Case realizes this in a very humble way will define the level of AOL's future success.
Going forward, Networking and word of mouth referrals are the ultimate TRUST magnets.
....and the power is with the people.
Yahoo's been fun, but I keep my trust closer to home.
The next game of Internet Wave 2 is still in the early stages: Partnershipping with individuals.
Is Yahoo going to open up its advertising revenue model to individuals??
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