Category: Uncategorized
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Rapid Fire Thoughts On Apple Pay
As you may have heard, Apple launched an evolutionary mobile payments product called Apple Pay this week. Here are a few quick thoughts on the product, launch and mobile payments market in general. Functionality today: Apple Pay is a payments product today, pure and simple. No loyalty, no coupons, no fancy features. Just an easier and…
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Mobile shopping apps and the consumer’s time budget
A study of the free shopping apps in the Android Play store shows that the most popular apps fall into the broad categories that one would reasonably expect without pushing the limits of imagination: pure play e-commerce, brick-and-mortar retailer apps, coupons & deals, utilities (shopping lists, product scans, loyalty storage) and rewards for shopping behavior…
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Simple and smart
I was perusing MasterCard’s merchant support site, located here: MasterCard Merchant Rules. There are a number of documents linked from that site, including “MasterCard Rules”, which is 326 pages long. That document opens with “MasterCard Standards” which reads: MasterCard is dedicated to making payments safe, simple and smart. We have a set of standards (“the Standards”) in support…
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New technology products and “promise-driven” sales
USA Today recently published a far-ranging interview with Silicon Valley legend Bill Campbell in which he had an excellent take on what makes great sales people and a great sales process. Bill’s quote: You’re going to get me at fistfight with everybody in the Valley talking about this. I am a big bully about that…
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Employee Data Portability in the Marketplace Economy
I was reading a few related articles yesterday about the challenging employment environment for low and middle-income workers in the United States. The gist is that in the economic recovery since 2008, a disproportionate share of the economic gains are going to the richest folks. Paul Krugman cited a study showing that “95 percent of the gains…
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Saturday Payments Thoughts: ISIS & Coin
Some thoughts on two bits of interesting consumer payments news from this week… ISIS: The carrier-led mobile payments joint venture ISIS launched nationally this week, approximately 3 years after the venture’s initial announcement. Three years is an awfully long time to get a mobile app to market. Obviously, there is a ton of work that…
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There is a lot to love about the Airbnb guest experience
Background I stayed at an Airbnb apartment for the first time this past week during a 3 night business trip to San Francisco. Airbnb has been around for 5 years, but I’ve heard very few direct accounts from friends or acquaintances who had used the service. I’ve certainly read much about Airbnb as a heroic…
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Snapchat has our attention
Snapchat is rumored to be raising a new round at a hefty $3.5 bil valuation. 200 mil daily snaps were worth an $800 mil valuation in June, while 350 mil daily snaps are potentially worth a $3.5 bil valuation in October (increase from $4 to $10 per daily snap). A key reason that IVP invested in the last round was momentum & engagement. Will…
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I made my first angel investments using AngelList Syndicates
Yesterday, I made my first two angel investments via AngelList Syndicates. I invested in two companies: Shyp and Estimote. I’m investing with my eyes wide open: Felix Salmon thinks I’m part of a crowd of idiots, while Howard Lindzon thinks people like me have a shot to learn how to use incredible tools like AngelList to successfully…
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Mobile commerce isn’t waiting for the “wallet” to arrive
When it comes to mobile commerce, much attention has been paid to the idea that the smartphone will eventually become the wallet. The New York Times is impatiently waiting for this moment to arrive. I’ve commented on the idea, stating that the moment is inevitable. Yet, despite the large amounts of attention paid to it, the mobile…
Investoor & Operatoor 