14 posts and columns on David Pakman

Wither the Giants? The Arrogance of Aging Incumbents.

in Voices on January 25 at 10:40 am PT

Technology forces that bring greater efficiency and transparency to markets simply don’t care about privilege, access, and rolodexes.

Amazon's Cloud Service Is A) Legal B) Illegal? C) Probably Here To Stay

in Media on March 29, 2011 at 7:36 pm PT

Amazon is wagering that the big music labels would rather work out a deal instead of taking it to court. Pretty good bet.

Welcome to the Wild West of Venture Capital

in News on November 11, 2010 at 8:05 am PT

Inflated valuations typically signal that a particular investment segment is overheated. Deals in the digital and social media category, for instance, are becoming so expensive for venture investors that they may invoke an unsavory label–bubble.

News Byte

Why Netflix Won (And Why Digital Music Start-Ups Can't)

in Media on October 26, 2010 at 6:50 am PT

Here’s a good coda to last week’s “digital music start-ups are screwed/no they’re not” debate: A concise explanation of the Netflix digital success story, via Venrock’s David Pakman. Key insight: A really big check solves a lot of problems. Unstated corollary: Netflix can write a really big check because consumers place a much higher value on TV + movies than on music: They’ll pay $9 a month for limited access to video but not $10 a month for unlimited tunes.

Buzzword Alert to All Geeks: Please Replace "Real-Time" Web With "Right-Time" Web STAT!

in News on April 16, 2010 at 12:38 am PT

Earlier this week at Twitter’s Chirp conference, Venrock’s David Pakman seemed to strike a chord by coining a new buzzword that deserves to gain some level of acceptance. On a panel BoomTown moderated, in answer to my question about what kinds of investments and trends he is looking for in the social networking space, Pakman said he was looking for someone who could deliver “right-time” information rather than real-time data. He’s actually right.

Some Twits Chirp From Twitter Conference: @Ev, @Biz and More!

in News on April 15, 2010 at 4:13 am PT

Here’s a video BoomTown did yesterday at the Twitter Chirp conference, where a lot of noise was made about a lot of things. Like: Twitter has a Google Android app; Twitter has a link shortener; Twitter does more searches than you think, Twitter has 105.8 million registered users and is adding 300,000 a day; Twitter users write 55 million posts a day; Twitter is being archived at the Library of Congress. Also more blah-blah-blah on geolocation, metadata called Annotations and, of course, @anywhere, which is essentially Facebook Connect for Twitter. And–oh, yes–making money. That.

What Shall BoomTown Ask the Twits–Oops, I Mean Twitter-Loving VCs–at Chirp Today?

in News on April 14, 2010 at 8:21 am PT

Later today at Twitter’s Chirp conference in San Francisco, BoomTown is moderating a panel titled “Investing in the Ecosystem.” Or as I like to call it, “How Do You VCs Come Up With Those Crazy Valuations: Magic 8-Ball? Ouiji Board? Darts?” I have a choice group of dudes–of course, they are all dudes–for the panel, all of whom have invested in a range of start-ups, including Twitter. Presumably, the group will give the audience the 411 on what goes into finding, feeding and nurturing the many start-ups that populate the Twitterverse.

Apple: Billions of Songs, Billions of Apps, Not Much Profit

in Media on February 25, 2010 at 4:53 am PT

Apple is patting itself on the back for delivering 10 billion songs from its iTunes Store. And it frequently boasts about the number of apps customers download from iTunes, as well–the tally is now past three billion. But you won’t hear Apple boast about how much money it’s making from iTunes. Because there’s not much to boast about.

Hachette Joins Apple’s Anti-Amazon Book Club

in Media on February 4, 2010 at 7:17 pm PT

Here’s another publisher publicly throwing its weight behind Apple–and against Amazon–in the e-book pricing war. Hachette Book Group says it will pursue the “agency model” for pricing e-books: It sets retail prices and the retailer gets a 30 percent cut. In more practical terms, this means Hachette’s titles will be getting more expensive, and the rest of the industry will be following suit.

EMusic’s New Boss Is the Same as the Old Boss

in Media on June 2, 2009 at 10:34 am PT

Shades of Dick Cheney! Subscription music service eMusic’s last CEO took off last fall. Chairman Danny Stein, who ran the company years ago, ran a search for a replacement and decided that the best man for the job was…Danny Stein.
danny_stein

eMusic Cutting 10 Percent of Staff; Still Looking for CEO

in Media, October 29, 2008 at 2:06 pm PT