- Register now for May 5 MoMoVan!
- MoMo Global Summit in Vancouver in 2010
- MoMoVan in Review
- WINBC member update: IOTO International
- Sponsor announcement: Wavefront + Sierra Wireless
- Panel discussion: CTIA Wireless 2008 Las Vegas
- Panel discussion: Entrepreneurship
- Panel discussion: Going to market
May 5th
TOPIC: Mobile Communities, Social Networking & Mobile Culture.
Wikipedia defines social networks this way: "Social network analysis views social relationships in terms of nodes and ties. Nodes are the individual actors within the networks, and ties are the relationships between the actors. There can be many kinds of ties between the nodes...[and] social networks operate on many levels, from families up to the level of nations, and play a critical role in determining the way problems are solved, organizations are run, and the degree to which individuals succeed in achieving their goals. In its simplest form, a social network is a map of all of the relevant ties between the nodes being studied."
Social networks have existed since mankinds early tribal days. But with the growing world use of mobile devices, the nature of those networks is shifting, perhaps even ore than they did with other technological developments such as print, radio, TV, telephony and the Internet.
We're putting together a crack panel of wireless entrepreneurs who know what's hot, what's not and what to do to develop applications for the ever-changing, sometimes chaotic world of mobile culture and social networks.
| Date: | Monday, May 5, 2008 | |
| Time: | 6:00 PM 8:30 PM | |
| Location: | Granville Island Brewing (GIB Taproom), 1441 Cartwright Street, Vancouver, BC | |
| Tickets: | FREE to WINBC Members | |
| FREE to WINBC Sponsors and Partners | ||
| FREE to Students | ||
| $20 to Non-members of WINBC and at the door | ||
| Space: | Limited to 80 people | |
 Registration deadline: Friday, May 2, 2008 Free parking, free food, and first beer free. Stay tuned for program details. |
During a recent conversation with Jari Tammisto, President and CEO of MobileMonday Global, Michael Bidu, Executive Director, WINBC, mentioned our own Pacific Northwest Wireless Summit and noted that we would be holding one right after Vancouver stages the 2010 Winter Olympics. Michael invited Jari to hold his MobileMonday Global Summit here the day before our PNWS summit opens. Jari is excited about the possibility. Here's what he said in a joint WINBC-MoMoVan-MoMoGlobal press release:
"With MoMo chapters growing in Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver, that surely enables us to consider Vancouver as the site of MobileMonday's Global Summit 2010."
It's not a 100% done deal, yet...but the signs are very good.
You can see the entire press release here: Vancouver strong contender for MobileMonday Global Summit 2010
Member Update: IOTO International
Dr. William Spat offered us an update on the emergent transportation systems his team develops at IOTO International (www.ioto.ca) and gave us some excellent insights into the 2008 LBS Global Challenge, sponsored by NAVTEQ, and how to prepare for it.
He noted that there are currently some 266 million LBS devices in use worldwide, which is expected to rise to over 618 million between now and 2011. He also said the risks and uncertainties in developing applications for LBS can easily lead developers into what he called a "pre-commercial swamp," where they can encounter a variety of different "swamp trolls," among them:
- The Loss of Gumption troll this causes companies to focus too much on their corporate lifestyle and on idealized customers, leading to a failure to focus on real customers.
- The Loss of Direction troll you simply don't have a clear idea of what to develop, for whom.
- The Exhaustion of Resources troll following one uncertain path after another wears down your intellectual capital and exhausts your finances.
- The Too-Much-Planning troll leads to not-enough-doing.
- The Tedious-Tinkering troll you keep re-visiting the technology, making changes willy-nilly, instead of focusing on making relevant changes.
Dr. Spat's strategies for avoiding the trolls are:
- Stay stoked about your goals and remain solvent.
- Research your customers: meet them and listen to what they have to say about what they want.
- Concentrate on your fundamental technologies.
Wavefront + Sierra Wireless Announce Major Developer Program
Jim Maynard, President of wavefront and proud sponsor of MoMoVan, announced his organization's first major project a six-month program with Sierra Wireless to encourage wireless developers to develop new applications for the GPS chip in Sierra Wireless AirCards.
Developers are invited to submit a write-up of their idea. Those chosen will receive a Sierra Wireless Developers Kit and possibly other support from Sierra to turn their idea into a working application. The very best new apps may be selected for inclusion on AirCards and receive widespread distribution through major carriers.
The deadline to submit your idea is May 16, 2008. You can find out more information here: Wavefront/Sierra Wireless Wireless Apps Program
MODERATOR
Michael Bidu, Executive Director WINBC
PANELISTS
Christina Lees, Manager, Product Development - wavefront AC
Christina is responsible for product development and is working closely with the wireless developer community in BC and from around the world to test their products and to enable rapid commercialization. Prior to her position with wavefront, Christina was involved in product development and wireless technologies with Infowave, a local wireless company.
Michael "Luni" Libes, Chief Architect & Co-Founder - Medio Systems
A Medio co-founder, Libes is a serial entrepreneur who has designed, developed, and shipped over 50 commercial products over the last 15 years. Most recently, Libes was the head of Mforma's Application Studio, leading the company's efforts beyond mobile games.
Razmig Sarkissian, Testing & Support Manager - Mobile Distillery
Razmig is part of the technical team, responsible of the test and integration of new devices into the Mobile Distillery solution, of the integration tool's development and of leading some of Mobile Distillery's projects inside the R&D team.
Click here to view one-minute overview of panel discussion.
All the panelists agreed that they liked all the optimism they saw at CTIA, despite the widespread, gloomy economic news.
Christina liked the discussions around open networks and singled out an application she thought was particularly "cool", called "Hey What's That?" an application that lets you not only find your location but find out, by name, what particular landmark natural or built you're looking at.
Luni was impressed by the fundamental shift in the design of handsets from Samsung and LG, which he says are in the direction of the iPhone and are far superior to anything else on the market in functionality.
He also noted the sharp growth in the number of booths for new players in mobile advertising, noting its low cost of entry as one reason for the growth.
Razmig said he was a bit surprised to find that major carriers and operators don't seem to have a lot of tools to help and nurture developers the very opposite of the situation in Europe, where there are a lot of different users of applications, compared to the US, where the market is driven by the limited number of major carriers.
MODERATOR
Michael Bidu, Executive Director WINBC
PANELISTS
Michael "Luni" Libes, Chief Architect and Co-Founder - Medio Systems
Mike Satterfield, Partner - Yaletown Venture Partners
Mike brings over 25 years of entrepreneurial and senior operating experience in the software industry to the Yaletown team. Mike leads Yaletown investments in Thetus and Zeugma Systems, which was recently named one of Light Reading's Top Ten New Start-Ups in the world.
Sig Luft, Founder & CTO Zeugma Systems
Siegfried Luft has over 15 years of experience in the telecommunications industry. Prior to Zeugma Systems he was a co-founder of Siara Systems which merged with Redback Networks. As founding President and General Manager of Siara Research Canada, the Canadian subsidiary, Siegfried and his team developed the first release of the SmartEdge 800 which contributed significant revenues for Redback Networks.
Why do people create start-up companies in the first place?
When Mike is assessing a potential investment, he's always looking for the right entrepreneur. In his experience as a venture capitalist he was able to segment entrepreneurs in three main categories:
- People who can't stand the thought that their great idea won't become a working product that gets out to the world.
- Opportunists who see needs not properly filled by existing companies.
- People who want meaningful employment, providing genuine value to customers.
"At Yaletown we always like to see a team of the first and the third kind. One must be a Product Champion and the other should be a Customer Champion" says Mike.
Luni says his start-ups have always been something he "just had to do." His number one piece of advice for would-be entrepreneurs is that you can't do it all yourself: "Never start a company alone. You have to put together the right team."
Mike agreed, noting that it is also important not to start a company with someone just like you, with the same skill sets.
His strategies for survival, finding investment and reaching profitability are:
- Plan well and state and meet your milestones.
- Look ahead and ask what the next stage is and what you need to prove at each stage.
- Don't fall so in love with your product that you forget about customers, marketing and sales channels.
Luni says the leaders of start-up companies need to remember that their product doesn't have to be perfect: "It just has to be good enough to sell. Call it Beta, get it out, and worry about improving and monetizing it later."
MODERATOR
Michael Bidu, Executive Director WINBC
PANELISTS
Michael "Luni" Libes, Chief Architect and Co-Founder - Medio Systems
Sig Luft, Founder & CTO Zeugma Systems
Razmig Sarkissian, Testing & Support Manager - Mobile Distillery
This session was quite interactive as Michael Bidu offered the microphone to the audience. Lots of questions were asked. The theme was around how European developers are focusing on excellence and perfection (therefore delaying time-to-market in Luni's opinion) while the North American developers (following Microsoft's philosophy) are utilizing "The Good Enough Software" strategy. It was a good debate.
Sig remarked that when first starting up, putting together the right team is his number one consideration. But once you're well established, ideas, patents and intellectual property grow more important.
On finding and keeping talent, Luni says you need to have a strong team that others want to join, and make sure you never hire someone who is just "good enough".
Sig says you must keep the work challenging, offer good career paths and good payout possibilities.
Razmig agreed with Sig, adding: "You have to provide the people (your team) with the means for a great adventure."
Smile You may be on camera!
Bruce Sharpe video taped all the presentations from the last MoMoVan. If you want a more detailed look at some of what happened and what was said, you'll find his videoclips HERE (courtesy of Singular Software).
MobileMonday Vancouver is an open forum held for the global community of wireless industry professionals. It fosters cooperation and networking among interest groups, industry people and their companies by providing the logistics and opportunities for personal and virtual contacts.
Everyone is welcome!
- Visionaries, entrepreneurs, innovators, developers, designers, investors
- Students, Ph.Ds, professors from UBC, SFU, UVIC and BCIT and elsewhere
- WINBC members and Non-members with an interest in wireless technology
- Members of other technology associations and government agencies
- Members of local media, new media, Web 2.0 and blogging community
Because together we can do more.
- We hope to open a long-lasting conversation that is relevant to the wireless and Web 2.0 community in Vancouver, BC and the world.
- We want to increase opportunities for casual networking, for identifying quality local talent, accessing early stage companies, building strategic partnerships and developing more business and businesses.
- We want to continue promoting local innovation and collaboration in the wireless and Web 2.0 industry, from small start-ups, to large companies, to research labs.
