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By Tai, June 6, 2010 6:15 pm

The SecondMarket private equity website values Facebook at $25b.

Here is a little perspective

In the private equity market, supply can’t possibly meet demand thus the illiquidity creates the self-fulfilling prophecy of a Hype.

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By Tai, November 5, 2009 9:51 am

When Yahoo! 360 closed down, I ebullient promoted WordPress and Blogger to all who wanted to find a good blogging platform.

People with professional intention stayed with WordPress & Blogger.

But one thing I had predicted and feared has come true. Those who write personal slowly & silently migrate to the uninspiring, plain and boring ^(*) Notes application on Facebook.

What’s the moral?

• Convenience of distribution
• Social graph matter
• Behaviors and preferences are dynamic and can be changed by a superior product
• It is when one thing becomes a daily trivial consuming good that it grows powerful. Think Facebook. Think Microsoft. Think FMCG.

_{(*) What many users had been complaining for the past years but they turned out users of Notes}

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By Tai, September 23, 2009 7:08 pm

1. They regain focus by releasing the new search with local search.
2. They put on the negotiate the crucial contract with Microsoft to prolong the search war saga.
3. They trim off “bad Yahoo!”.
4. They save costs on R&D by cloning Tumblr for their new service Meme.
5. They regained email market share with new improvements to Yahoo! Mail.
6. And they impose higher alpha than expected.

Welcome back on track, Yahoo!

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By Tai, September 18, 2009 11:06 pm

Theoretically, it is sensible for a Profile to be the center of a wide range of social features and the social platform. Just why Yahoo! has Yahoo! Profile for its Open Strategy.

Nevertheless, major updates have been realized in Yahoo! Mail.

Firstly, the front page now includes updates from a user’s connections.

Then applications start to appear in Yahoo! Mail.

It is reasonable too why Yahoo! Mail is an ideal destination for such updates. People will more likely login their inbox than in their “profile”. Plus, Yahoo! Mail being the top email service is still Yahoo!’s ace in communication. Think about profiles, why would one want to login their profile while they are having a Facebook?

After all, it’s a bit confusing as to what kind of updates I expect to see in Yahoo! Mail and Yahoo! Profile. Nevertheless, should Yahoo! concentrate their efforts in just one. If so, may I suggest Yahoo! Mail?

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By Tai, September 5, 2009 7:28 pm

Yahoo! Meme, the tumblelog service originally launched in Portugese, rolled out its English interface.

This won’t pose a threat to Twitter, but to Tumblr.

Especially in Vietnam, where Yahoo! Messenger still plays the center role of communication on the internet. If Yahoo! integrate Meme and Messenger, definitely the adoption rate for Vietnamese users will be high.

Frankly, Yahoo! Meme can’t be compared with Tumblr in product innovation and features, but network effect plus simplicity give Yahoo! a good starting point.

Let’s hope Yahoo! Meme can stand the load of millions, unlike its crippled elder sister Yahoo! 360.

If you’re interested, follow me at meme.yahoo.com/taitran