The future of business

I read this interview with Eric Schmidt, the CEO of Google, where he expresses his views on how the internet impacts (will impact) businesses, competition and innovation.

Interestingly he opines about the long tail (remember that one?) and democratic markets and how he does not quite believe that the internet levels the playing field. According to Eric Schmidt the power law still holds true where a small number of things are highly concentrated. I guess he is right; volumes still reside with the a few at the head. Global brands still hold clout over a majority of smaller ones in that ever increasing tail. And he is right when he says that businesses need to have one superstar in their portfolio which will draw most revenue.

However what is not talked about there is where I believe the head is getting increasingly fragmented. As I sit and think, I can’t really come up with one shining example of a true global superstar. May be it’s the times we are living in when most of the superstars have flopped (and how!) Or may its because such superstars get created in under a day today (Susan Boyle?). I believe the real reason is that crowds no longer want to believe in one superbrand. In fact I believe that the power law is detested where no single entity is being trusted to hold all power. And where the search for the next superstar is always on. Anyway, Google is still the superstar of the internet business. But that may change.

I hope you find the interview an interesting read as well.

Creative Entrepreneurship in a downturn

I found this interview quite interesting. Some good insights on what could create business in this downturn – substitutes, availability of excess time and delivering more value for money.