Fred Wilson has a good post today on the search for better search where he points to several problems with the keyword search and page rank model. Is social search, tagging and all that, going to make a big difference for the regular web user? Will user generated tag clouds and folksonomies (see Wikipedia definitions for tag cloud and folksonomy) make it easier to find the stuff you are looking for by relying on smart mobs applying their collective knowledge and filters?
I don’t know what the next killer application of search is going to be, but I tend to lean towards a belief that extracting information from the things we do and say and using that as a way to help inform our search for related information is one important and as of yet pretty unexplored area ripe for innovation. If I am planning a trip to Hawaii or listening to a lot of Moby or reading and writing mostly about folksonomies and tagging, then shouldn’t all that inform how I show up when people search for me. And should it not also inform my own search results?
Oh, and while I’m at it, Fred also commented on Adam Lashinsky’s fun piece in Fortune Magazine about the dynamics of the start-up / VC dating game. I agree with Fred’s comment that VCs need to re-think what is success and even their underlying models in the ever changing landscape of startupiland. The expectations of what is a successful VC outcome must evolve beyond mega returns with big $$ invested. Until it does, VCs and the entrepreneurs they back will far too often find themselves on opposite sides of the table. I commented on this in more detail on Allen’s blog a few weeks ago as well.
-hans peter
great comment on Allen’s blog Hans Peter
we are trying to operate in most of the four quadrants you mention.
we’ll see how well that works.
it’s basically about managing less money and investing less money in order to stay aligned with the best entrepreneurs.
greetings from sunny sydney!
guys, site looks promising. looking forward to getting a peek when the beta goes public.
being in hr, am keen to see how the plum environment would play as host of a job seeker’s cv (not a structured profile or doco, but as a collection of tags that label my work preferences, life aspirations, etc) and therefore, the environment in which employers/agencies could approach applicants, given they offer their permission
re. the post, I’m a big fan of bootstraping it all the way to the first 10 paying customers. Then you don’t need vc money, you need ‘viable business’ money.. what say you?
all the best
jorge