What Would Alex Bosika Do?

Everyone has gone stir crazy.  When did things get so nasty.  When everyone starts in the beginning, they’re friendly, open, and considerate.  They’re all ears and they’re operating to higher ideals.  

Then things change.

Suddenly, the swoosh of money, venture capital guidance, a flood of users, and a rising “importance” changes mindsets. Suddenly, everyone has an ego.  Everyone has a vision.  Everyone stops working together.

I really don’t care about the reasons.  Many of the “upstarts” were hungry, docile, and friendly.  They were willing to work to higher ideals to make things happen.  To change the world.  Then they became big, got a little money, became arrogant, blind and stupid.  Suddenly, that rush to be open and friendly to build “scale” turns into a tragic set of actions which start to feel monolithic, monopolistic, anti-revolutionary and anti-competitive.

FOR EXAMPLE

Where the hell did Apple get the idea that they can somehow dictate what is appropriate and not-appropriate for their iBookstore?  This story has been making “hay” in the social media sphere that it has folks like Dan Gillmor are calling Apple’s actions “control freakery”.  I would agree. 

Here’s my response on twitter to Phil Schiller from Apple:

Want to guess the crime?  Here’s the snippet from the article (read full article):

I cannot sell PART of the course on Apple. SoHow To Think Sidewayswill not appear on the iBookstore. Neither willHow To Revise Your Novel.

But I also will not deal with this sort of head-up-ass behavior from adistributor. You don’t tell someone “The problem is the live links,” and then, when that person has complied with your change request and removed the live links, turn around and say, “No, no. The problem is the CONTENT. You can’t mention Amazon in your lesson.

This is not professional behavior from a professional market.

And cold moment of truth here—you cannot write a writing course that includes information on publishing and self-publishing and NOT mention Amazon. It’s the place where your writers are going to make about 90% of their money.

So I’m pulling ALL my work from the iBookstore today. I apologize to iBookstore fans. I tried. Hard.

This is what Apple’s actions remind me of:

Cut it out Apple.  You’re going down a dangerous path with publishing.  We understand your position about porn within the App Store (something you control directly vs. the WWW) but when it comes to book publishing, you’re entering into “dark” territory.

Also, we don’t see Amazon restricting books that contain very specific instructions on how to publish on Apple’s iBookstore as shown in this example:

I don’t see any way out of this for Apple.  I understand they built the ecosystem and now, acting as a distribution channel feel they can dictate what can and cannot be done.  But this is ludicrous and dangerous.  There is a lot of Apple hate out there.  Not sure if it is entirely because of Steve’s ego, Apple’s untold billions, massive profit margins, Foxconn challenges, or the $74 billion of money parked offshore for tax liability reasons but this type of stuff coming from Cupertino is silly.

And please don’t get me started by another anxious and “friendly” brand called Twitter. In the early days, it was okay to open everything up to everyone to help achieve scale.  Now that scale has arrived, it seems quite easy to forget one’s roots and where they came from.  The API changes for Instagram are petty.  Maybe it’s easy for me to say but as you continue to frustrate users in a very open and social space, these friction points begin to undo what was so great about mobile, social, and open. Do you want to be remembered for screwing with things when they were doing well?  After all, look what happened to DIGG.

I tweeted Phil Schiller at Apple about this (no, I am not Walt Mossberg…) as he’s the only noticeable Apple exec communicating with the public on that channel.  I didn’t expect him to comment but I certainly hope Apple notices from the chatter online social channels.  Apple has a lot to lose now and every decision like this acts like a small wave which will ultimately turn into a tsunami of discontent.  

Guide yourself accordingly as the lawyers would say.

UPDATED: Apple responds to author and says, “We made a mistake.”  FULL STORY HERE:  AMAZING APPLE TURNAROUND (Click Here)

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• API Management Platform Mashery Closes On $10 Million, Doubles The Number Of Mashery-Powered Apps (techcrunch.com)
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May wish to follow them on twitter.com for insights.  This is a early 2011 graphic but that said, still interesting to see. 

Talk about tipping points.  Small things do make a big difference.

After completing SIX YEARS as co-founder of MobileMonday Toronto with our May 2012 end of season event, here are some markers:

• 40+ events
• 15+ sponsors
• 30+ venture capital pitches
• 10+ moderators
• 40+ panelists
• 5 MobileMonday Toronto volunteers
• Cumulative attendance total: 25,000 attendees
• 2 MoMo Camp winners
• 50 cross-event promotional offers

After 5 years, we can say that MobileMonday Toronto has been a raging success. Thanks Jim Brown, my colleague and co-founder, and the helping hands of the rest of the MoMo team (Dal Layal, Jolon Craw, Janine Chin and Nick Van Vlymen) for helping us reach the tipping point in our fifth year of operation.

It started with a “fire” in the heart of two individuals with an entrepreneur bent.  Jim and I met through the kind folks at MobileMonday New York to help bring “community” to Toronto’s mobile ecosystem.  Along the way, our friends from the Fort York Armory to Dunedain Multimedia became our hosts as we kept “grassroots” alive and well.  We then partnered with MaRS Discovery District to bring location, audio visual expertise, and a premium networking facility to the table.

Building a community is hard work.  You have to enjoy networking, meeting people, building programs, and running operations…for FREE.  The secret ingredient is passion and a willingness to do things for the greater good.  Jim Brown and I worked many summers, nights and weekends to build strategy for event themes, chasing down speakers, and finding sponsors to build the platform for top-notch events.  In the past two years, we had a breakout growth curve.  My efforts in sponsorship fundraising for non-profit operations netted tier-1 mobile ecosystem brands and six-figure sponsorship funding.  Our sponsors have been fantastic!

I want to thank them all:

• Marketwire
• Canadian Wireless Telecommunication Association
• Miller Thomson
• BDC
• Nokia
• Blackberry
• Windows Phone
• Telus
• Rogers Catalyst
• Public Mobile
• WIND Mobile
• Mobilicity
• Redknee
• Dunedain Multimedia
• The Working Group
• MarketingProfs
• SAP Canada Inc.

Without the support of the community, our sponsors, our event partners like MaRS - The Fort York Armory - Dunedain Multimedia, and our volunteer crew of Dal, Jolon, Janine and Nick — Jim Brown and I could not have taken our small idea and grown it to a level where MobileMonday Toronto is today.

It has been a heck of a ride and truly fun.  Our Venture Capital 2012 Pitch was one of the best pitch events to date.  The business models, the technology, and the pitches were top-notch.  Even our top venture capital panel concluded that things had come “full circle” in the Toronto ecosystem for mobile concepts.  A job well done to all the entrepreneurs!

Alexander S Bosika, Co-Founder, MobileMonday Toronto, 647-781-4005

7th Annual MobileMonday Toronto VC Panel Pitch from MaRS Discovery District on Vimeo.

Watch this video to hear from Toronto’s most innovative mobile companies as they pitch to a VC panel to fund their business.

Sean Wise, Managing Director at Wise Mentor Capital, moderated the session. The investor and expert panel participated in a discussion while listening to the presenting companies as they explained their business.

So caught up with an old friend who is now based in the Valley. We had worked together in 2005 in a joint collaboration effort to launch an NTT DoComo WIND initiative specific to i-Mode.

After 10 minutes down memory lane, we compares stories about the Valley and Toronto. He is a Toronto transplant in the land of sun launching a business with a partner.

His thoughts:
- The Valley is hot. Lots of biz activity
- Palo Alto offers a 1-bedroom for $2700 USD per month in a bad part of town
- Business is good
- startups more likely to get support in the Valley than in Toronto

My thoughts:
- VCs may exist but not supportive
- general malaise among startups to get serious support in Toronto
- unemployment high in biz cycle
- passive and risk-averse financial climate
- tech “startup” just isn’t “hot” here

These were competing views. Was it the sun? Or was it true? How about “true”? This was the tenth time in the last three weeks before and post-Mobile World Congress where I heard about the dramatic differences and the “pales in comparison” talk among industry colleagues in various sectors such as media, mobile, online and financial.

Sad part is - it has been consistent for a very long time. Not just now. Is Silicon Valley a unique microcosm that simply can’t be replicated elsewhere? There’s a noticeable “energy” you sense from folks based there.

No doubt. It’s exciting to hear about the deal flow and the courage some people take to invest in ideas.

However, it isn’t all rosy. Accommodations are expensive. Most people rent. Imagine paying $3000USD for a one-bedroom unit. Geez, you almost need to bunk with your lady to survive. I guess the trade-offs could be analyzed based on your place in life.

The word is - tech is hot - in the Valley. Try telling that to other parts of America or the rest of the world where things aren’t so hot. I don’t think Silicon Valley can be replicated. It’s unique and damn aggressive. Kudos to the players that made that a reality.

Alex