Why Twitter’s API Strategy Must Change in a Google+ and Facebook World

As a result of the emergence of Google+, Twitter could soon find itself in a tough spot. A large chunk of their core developer base might migrate to Google+ because there is simply more opportunity there.

Why? Well for starters, it’s really easy to crank out Chrome extensions and you can market and sell them instantly in the Chrome Web Store to a ginormous captive audience that is many multiples of the size of Twitter’s user-base.… Read More “Why Twitter’s API Strategy Must Change in a Google+ and Facebook World”

The Google+ Developer Ecosystem Will Be Different from Twitter

Google+ has seen some good initial uptake from early-adopters in its first few weeks. But how will it leverage developers and partners?

In order to really build value around Google+, of course Google will integrate it with their other products, including Search, Gmail, and more.… Read More “The Google+ Developer Ecosystem Will Be Different from Twitter”

My Best Interview: About Global Brain, Consciousness and AI

I was recently interviewed by Stephen Ibaraki and Alex Lin (CEO of ChinaValue) in what turned out to be the most interesting, far-reaching, and multi-disciplinary (and long) interview I’ve ever given. I was very pleased with the depth of their questions and the topics we covered.… Read More “My Best Interview: About Global Brain, Consciousness and AI”

[Excerpt From My TechCrunch post] Why Twitter Should Adopt a Freemium API Model Immediately

TechCrunch kindly ran my most recent article today — the full version is available here.

Here is an excerpt:

I’ve been puzzling over Twitter’s recent tactical moves around their API, Ubermedia and Tweetdeck, for a few months now, and it just doesn’t add up.… Read More “[Excerpt From My TechCrunch post] Why Twitter Should Adopt a Freemium API Model Immediately”

The e-G8 Summit, Unveiled

I was recently honored to be invited by President Sarkozy of France to participate in the e-G8 Summit — a new and potentially useful summit of global Internet leaders, right before this year’s G8 Summit in Paris.

This event will bring together Internet leaders and political leaders, for two days of discussions about the Internet.… Read More “The e-G8 Summit, Unveiled”

Bottlenose Begins to Unstealth

It’s been a busy week for the team at bottlenose one of my coolest venture productions.

Bottleno.se has developed a very powerful new personalization system that is optimized for making sense of Twitter and other real-time information streams. The product is in alpha and invite beta is planned for June.… Read More “Bottlenose Begins to Unstealth”

Announcing my newest production, The Daily Dot

I’m pleased to announce that my newest venture production is beginning to unstealth. It’s called The Daily Dot and it promises to be “the hometown newspaper of the Web ” — the community newspaper for Web.

The story of The Daily Dot began several years ago when I was thinking about where the Web was headed.… Read More “Announcing my newest production, The Daily Dot”

What I’ve Been Up To: The Venture Production Studio Model

UPDATE NOTE: June 8, 2017:

The original post below was written in 2011. In that article I discussed the concept of venture production studios as a model — what are now being called “startup studios.”

I actively produced nearly a dozen ventures starting in 2011, using my venture studio model.… Read More “What I’ve Been Up To: The Venture Production Studio Model”

My Father and Me. A Memoir. For Mayer Spivack (1936 – 2011)

My father, Mayer Spivack, passed away on February 12, 2011, in the Kaplan Family House, a beautiful hospice outside of Boston. He passed away, at the young age of 74, after a difficult year and a half battle with colon cancer.… Read More “My Father and Me. A Memoir. For Mayer Spivack (1936 – 2011)”

Goodbye San Francisco, Hello Los Angeles!

As of this week I am officially based in Los Angeles and I’m already loving it here.

I made the decision for many reasons. First of all my wife wanted to move back here – she lived here for 16 years (during which time she produced 11 TV movies), and she has a huge community of friends here.… Read More “Goodbye San Francisco, Hello Los Angeles!”

Meet Me at the Innotribe at SIBOS 2010 – October 25 – 29

I’m soon headed to Amsterdam to keynote the SIBOS conference. SIBOS is the largest annual banking conference in the world, attracting around 10,000 attendees.

But what’s most interesting about this event is the innovation stream within the conference. It’s called the Innotribe and is focused on exploring and innovating the future of financial services.… Read More “Meet Me at the Innotribe at SIBOS 2010 – October 25 – 29”

The Schedule of the Web: Live Matrix – Launched Tonight

Tonight I am pleased to announce that my next Big Idea has launched. It’s called Live Matrix and I invite you to come check it out.

Live Matrix is the schedule of the Web — We help you to find out “What’s When on the Web” — the hottest live online events happening on the Web: concerts, interviews, live chat sessions, game tournaments, sales, popular Webshows, tech conferences, live streaming sports coverage, and much more.… Read More “The Schedule of the Web: Live Matrix – Launched Tonight”

Vote for the these SXSW Panels!

Please vote for these SXSW Panels: (voting closed August 27)

What We Really Want In Web TV

Banking on Big Brands/Celebs for the Web

Humans Versus Robots: Who Curates the Real-Time Web?

The Future of Conferences: Designing Experiences

Social Viewing for Fan Engagement at MTV

Anatomy of an Online Video Show

500 People in Your Living Room: Emerging SocialTV

Making live events pay off – online and offline

Are Attention and Intention Casualties of the Web?… Read More “Vote for the these SXSW Panels!”

Time Based Pricing for Internet Content

I am not advocating charging for content online, however, it may be a necessary evil for some content providers to survive. Without subscription revenues the newspaper industry is dying. The same is true for magazine publishers. Online content providers face similar challenges – the cost of doing high-quality editorial is high and the revenues from advertising are not always enough to cover them.… Read More “Time Based Pricing for Internet Content”