For a long time, people thought Silicon Valley was recession proof. The last two weeks have made it apparent that that is not the case. At least dozens of tech companies - including Adbrite, eBay, Zillow, Pandora - have announced layoffs in October, most of them in the last two weeks.

“The next big thing in IT is not a technology — it is cost reduction, risk management and compliance,” said Gartner’s Peter Sondergaard. Gartner projects budget cuts of up to 20% at some companies.

Yahoo! is expected to cut more jobs than initially announced in January; that announcement could come as early as today. The cuts are expected to cost more than 1000 jobs.

Continue Reading »

There’s not a lot to be written that hasn’t already been said last week. The Dow had its worst week in history, Silicon Valley’s vulnerabilities were revealed, and the Blue Angels have been practicing over San Francisco since Thursday, their constant flyovers making the city seem like war zone.

The major epiphenomena of tech’s market crash were layoffs at prominent Valley companies, proclamations of 2.0 failure by prominent Valley voices, and viral symbol-making. As much as anything, this was the week The Proclamations Were Made:

Continue Reading »

Techcrunch50’s celebrity roll call continues, as this morning, joining Ashton Kutcher, who continues to flit through the halls and was briefly joined by Demi Moore and kids, are Mark Cuban and Kevin Rose on Tuesday’s expert panel.

Cuban, demonstrating the mouth that the NBA loves to fine, is not afraid to seriously critique some of the demoers, voicing (not necessarily politely) concerns many share about start-ups who in their overly complex way of doing something another program already does easily, are part of the trendy self-dialogue and half-upmanships endemic in what Kevin Rose calls “the Silicon Valley echo chamber.”

Continue Reading »

On August 4th 2008, the US Court of Appeals permitted Cablevision Cable Company to offer the services of digital video recording (DVR) to customers who do not own personal Tivo hard drives. The alternative, endorsed by the Second Circuit in New York, allows cable companies to record the programs to a central datacenter, thereby mitigating capital expenditures. Redlasso, an online Web site recently forced to suspend their video search, post, and clip services due to legal action by Fox and NBC, may have a viable business plan as a result of this decision. If a Redlasso user purchases the right to record digital video from a cable company, what is to stop that customer from transferring those rights to his account with Redlasso?

In such a scenario, Redlasso is acting as the internet-provider of digital video to cable company DVR customers. Of course, this hinges on the cooperation between Redlasso and cable companies, who may want to develop this service independently. Another possible obstacle is that Redlasso’s video content is delivered over the Internet rather than over the television. Hank Williams of the Silicon Valley Insider does not see this as a problem:

Continue Reading »

NowPublic.com released Tuesday its second MostPublic index, showing the 50 most influential people in Silicon Valley/San Francisco. “The MostPublic Index is a detailed (and transparent) barometer of who’s [sic] voices are most heard in the digital landscape as new channels—Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, YouTube and the like—transform how media is created and spread.”

The Vancouver-based participatory news network rated the individuals based on four measures: online visability; presence on user-generated content and social networking sites; interactivity and accessibility; and what they call The “R” factor, presence on microblogging platforms like Flickr, Twitter, and Tumblr.

Continue Reading »

On Wednesday Silicon Valley gossip blog Valleywag posted an article rumoring that TechCrunch is going to be bought by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. Nicholas Carlson reports that a startup founder overheard a group of TechCrunch people celebrating the sale. It’s said that the deal is done, but that TechCrunch will not announce it until August, at the August Capital meet-up event. Another source corroborated this claim. New Corp denied it.

Talks of a possible sale of the nearly 6 milion pages view monthly tech website have been going around for a while. Last week’s sale of PaidContent to the U.K.’s Guardian Media for $30 million fueled speculation that the TechCrunch founder, Michael Arrington is trying sell soon, though it might be more difficult, as he is rumored to be looking for a deal in the $100-million range.

Continue Reading »

Didier Lomdard, CEO and Chairman of France Telecom-Orange Group, just released the english edition of his new book, entitled “The Second Life of Networks”, along with co-author Georges Nahon and Gabriel Sidhom. Dominique and I were at the release of the book. Didier Lombard flew directly from Paris to hold his book signing in San Francisco (pictures), “the anchor for technological innovation in Silicon Valley.”

The Book Explains How Upcoming Technologies Will Bring New and Exceptional Opportunities for Human and Social Progress But Calls For Specific Changes and Reforms.

Continue Reading »

A U.S. Sentate committee is set to discuss privacy concerns relating to targeted ads with prominent Web site representatives from Facebook, Google [GOOG], and Microsoft [MSFT] on Wednesday.

The discussions are meant to detail the extent to which targeted ads approach the threshold of violating privacy laws, specifically a 1986 wiretapping law established by the federal government that says at least one party within a communication must agree to be recorded.

The reference to the law relates directly to online advertising company NebuAd, which is taking targeted advertising to the next level by working directly with Internet service providers to track user habits.

Continue Reading »

Since ‘08, L’Atelier has been helping clients outside the banking Group with Business trip, dedicated studies and Consulting missions. Atelier N.A. is now offering strategic partnership with office hosting. Atelier’s office in San Francisco is a great venue for organizations active between Europe and the Silicon Valley. We have workspaces available to visitors who have the potential to create synergies with us and would like to have an international presence in the Bay Area.

Contact an Atelier Expert today

We work with you as collaborative partners to help you navigate throughout the transformation process. With the help of our experts you company is arming itself with strategies, tactics, and technologies to support and realize its ambitious plans! We will be part of the project and help you use of the Internet as an efficient communication and recruitment tool.

L’Atelier North America is part of an advisors committee that reports directly to BNP Paribas’ executive committee dealing with online presence and Internet strategy. Subsidiaries of the BNP Paribas Group such as Cortal Consors and Cetelem have been working closely with Atelier NA to improve their innovation process and brush up their Internet strategy.

Other Fortune 500 clients are relying on Atelier’s input to widespread innovation within their strategic committees or among employees.

Example for the BNP Paribas Group:

Objective…

• The objective for BNP Paribas is to define and implement an accurate online strategy that both reinforces the brand, helps acquire new customers and retain existing ones.
• Find out what customers are expecting from a financial institution on the Internet
• Understand where BNP Paribas stands as far as On-line presence/online banking compared to other financial institutions
• Identify the best practices that will lead BNP Paribas to a coherent and efficient Internet strategy

Opportunity…

• BNP Paribas is now following a very ambitious plan that will lead the Banking Group to attract new customers with a younger and more dynamic brand.
• BNP Paribas is aiming at providing itself with the strategies, tactics and technologies that it will need to achieve its ambitious plans, especially by revamping its brand and using the Internet as a communication customer acquisition and retention tool.
• Strengthen BNP Paribas’ online banking to increase customers’ loyalty
• Use the Internet as a brand support channel and building up a strong online presence
• Create efficient online advertising campaigns

Contact an Atelier Expert today