3 Laguna Beach Entrepreneurs

Posted on May 13, 2014 by Krist

Having visited relatives in Orange County’s Laguna Beach for several decades, last year my wife and I purchased a cottage there, where we are, for the 1st time, near to family.  (Just 3 blocks & 2 miles).  Laguna, an hour south of downtown Los Angeles and with a population of 23,000, is an engaged community as well as a tourist destination.   It is quite stunning visually and offers a range

The sun sets over the Pacific, view from downtown's Main Beach

The sun sets over the Pacific, view from downtown’s Main Beach

of recreational opportunities (surfing, swimming, diving, paddling, hiking, mountain biking are all easy to access). Also, Laguna is unique in that it is bounded by the Pacific, hills, parks, and open space such that by motorized vehicle there are only 3 ways in and out.

Laguna began as a vacation/beach town and grew as an artists’ colony, spawning a fine art museum, an art college, and several galleries. The area is considered an excellent place to raise a family and is now populated by talented folks in a wide range of endeavors.

Last month, during a two-week period, there were 3 events connected to outstanding entrepreneurs that I’d like to bring to your attention because they reflect Laguna and suggest the breadth of the entrepreneurial talent around town.

I.  Paddle out for Hobart (“Hobie”) Alter, inventor and surf business trailblazer

On April 18th there was a paddle out ceremony for Hobie Alter who had passed away in late March. Hobie was born in Orange County and as a teenager settled in Laguna Beach, where he raised his family, lived most of his life, built businesses, and where the premier surf apparel shop is named “Hobie.” He started in business as a leading pioneer in the surfing business – he was an inventive board builder and shaper and, beginning in 1954, was proprietor of southern California’s first retail surf shop. Alter was the progenitor of the ubiquitous Hobie Cat line of catamarans which remain in production, still the most popular line of catamarans ever.

I never met Hobie, but these and other articles convey that he was an admirable, very well liked guy with an awesome portfolio of talent:

 

Hobie shop exterior in Laguna Beach. See http://www.watermanswall.com/.

Hobie shop exterior in Laguna Beach. See http://www.watermanswall.com/.

 

II.  Special event honoring MacGillivray Freeman Films and Founder Greg MacGillivray

Adjacent to Laguna is the city of Newport Beach, which in late April headquartered the 14th annual Newport Beach Film Festival.    On April 30th, the Festival honored MacGillivray Freeman Films (MFF), the world’s largest and most successful producer of IMAX films, on its 50th anniversary. MFF has always been headquartered in Laguna and the MacGillivray family resides there. (Freeman died in an accident in 1976.)

MacGillivray Freeman Films recognized for turning 50.

MacGillivray Freeman Films recognized for turning 50.

This relatively small company is creator of the highest-grossing giant-screen film ever produced (Everest, 1998), the longest-running documentary to play in one theatre (To Fly! has played at the Smithsonian’s National Air & Space Museum non-stop since 1976), two Oscar®-nominated documentaries, The Living Sea (1995) and Dolphins (2000), and most recently Grand Canyon Adventure: River at Risk 3D, the sixth in its acclaimed series of water-themed conservation films.

Truly a family business in the best sense, MFF has 3+ dozen employees and continues to conceptualize and produce leading IMAX films and will release Journey to the South Pacific later this year.

III. 5th annual Kelpfest, founded and produced by Nancy Caruso

OK, admit it – you weren’t aware that there was a festival celebrating kelp, the ocean resident which is one of the world’s fastest growing plants!

On Saturday, April 26th, Laguna’s Main Beach was the place to be – young & old came from all over Orange County to participate in the 5th annual Kelpfest.   Founded and produced by marine biologist and entrepreneur, Nancy Caruso, the festival is

Kelpfest Founder, Nancy Caruso, on left with the kelp dancers
Kelpfest Founder, Nancy Caruso, on left with the kelp dancers

 

a community based celebration of kelp, which is enjoying a resurgence in the waters off Laguna and where it shelters a growing abundance of wildlife.

The Festival features art programs for youth, live and thematic entertainment, and exhibits on local ocean organizations. One exhibit at this year’s Festival featured Professor Steven L. Manley of Cal State Long Beach who created Kelp Watch 2014 to study, with colleagues at UC Berkeley, radioactivity in local kelp beds in an attempt to ascertain what effect the Fukushima disaster is having in local waters.

Kelp beds are plentiful off Laguna and storms wash it up, this also at Main Beach.

Kelp beds are plentiful off Laguna and storms wash it up, this also at Main Beach.

Kelp is a rather large subject and I’m motivated to learn more about the plant and, possibly, write a post on it.

Kelpfest 2014 handmade poster

Kelpfest 2014 handmade poster

Poster at Kelpfest 2014 explaining things.

Poster at Kelpfest 2014 explaining things.

Posted in Entrepreneurs & Entrepreneurism, People of note | Leave a comment

Speed Book Reviews – good sellers re Twitter & Amazon

Posted on May 11, 2014 by Krist

Speed review of Hatching Twitter: A True Story of Money, Power, Friendship, and Betrayal 
by Nick Bilton 

With 195 almost uniformly favorable (4 and 5 star) customer reviews at Amazon, another favorable review (by me) wouldn’t add much to the pot.  An easy read, the book is well enough written and has a good pace and interesting story.  The people are sufficiently drawn and they’re the focus of the story here (very little and not enough on the technology or operations nitty gritty).  As to the players, more on those folks in the startup ecosystem who helped (lawyers, bankers, angels, etc) (or didn’t help) would have been interesting.

If you’re considering the book or just interested in a little more on Twitter, I suggest scanning the “most helpful” reviews at Amazon, particularly those by ex-employee Rabble and Lane Becker.

When Twitter was just a handful of people (2008) I was advising another tiny startup 1/2 block away, now called Skout.  I wasn’t one of the relatively small user community  tweeting back then, so I didn’t take much notice when Skout’s very competent founders offhandedly commented on how unreliable the Twitter service was.  Technical problems early on are part of Twitter’s history, so I’d have appreciated more on how Twitter was able to address those issues adequately and quickly enough to stay alive, buy time, and then scale.

A couple years ago, despite my wife’s serious skepticism of the Twitter service, I made myself take up tweeting to see what it’s about – now I can appreciate firsthand the utility of the free service.  And, of course, Twitter has 250+ million other users and is given a lot of credit for enabling citizens to be heard and collaborate, the Arab Spring being an example.  Nonetheless, although it’s definitely a worthwhile service, it’s an open question whether Twitter will be able to monetize its growing user community without alienating a meaningful portion of them.  Watch out for user churn.

4 stars at Amazon.

From Twitter.com:
255 million monthly active users
500 million Tweets are sent per day
78% of Twitter active users are on mobile
77% of accounts are outside the U.S.
Twitter supports 35+ languages
3,000 employees in offices around the world.  50% are engineers

The Atlantic magazine recently published A Eulogy for Twitter, a cautionary commentary on the company’s evolution.

 

Speed review of The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon 
by Brad Stone

(I gave it 2 stars at Amazon)

As an entrepreneur I very much enjoy becoming acquainted with other entrepreneurs and their stories. As most know, Jeff Bezos is legendary and Amazon is a pioneer with a huge footprint, already. So when I started this book I was pleased with the good writing and the author’s vocabulary. After 20-30 pages that all switched off – the writing began to bog down and the vocabulary digressed. I had hoped this would change but it didn’t, so after 1/5 of the book I closed it forever.

Not until I read MacKenzie Bezos’s one star review at Amazon earlier today, did I learn of the author’s many possible fabrications.

So, to summarize, the book evolves into a somewhat poorly written narrative including many disputed “facts.” It isn’t good as fiction or non-fiction.

If you must see for yourself, check it out of the library.

(I’d have given it a one-star, but since I stayed with it for more than 50 pages I can’t say “I hate it,” the translation of one star.)

 

 

Posted in Books & Films, Entrepreneurs & Entrepreneurism | Leave a comment

Entrepreneurs in Northeast Ohio #2

Posted on April 21, 2014 by Krist

On Monday, April 7, 2014, at the newly expanded, world-renowned Cleveland Museum of Art, the first Northeast Ohio Entrepreneur Expo took place.  This was an all afternoon event with elements of a trade show, networking, speed dating, a short talk, and a panel of VCs.

The event was organized by Jumpstart, a Cleveland based non-profit, which for 11 years has been the leading spear carrier in a homegrown effort to develop and build a more entrepreneurial attitude and community in Northeast Ohio (NEO).  Jumpstart is the brainchild of Ray Leach, who has worked tirelessly to procure tax-supported funding and related support from the State of Ohio and the Greater Cleveland community to advance entrepreneurism in NEO.  Mr. Leach may be the leading evangelist of entrepreneurism in NEO and perhaps all of Ohio.

In addition to holding community events, Jumpstart has ongoing programs of training and mentoring for all of the NEO community.  Jumpstart also provides financial resources to a subset of its clients and has a portfolio of very early stage investments of approximately $15 million.

The Expo took place in the large, new atrium of the Museum.  Around the perimeter of the main floor and threaded through the floor were tables, one for each of approximately 250 early stage companies or service providers:

Attendees were free to roam and interact with the entrepreneurs and service providers and enjoy demos or see products or prototypes.

Art Museum atrium at start of Expo

Art Museum atrium as the Expo was just getting started.

On the atrium’s second floor balcony, approximately 100 tables were set up for speed dating between entrepreneurs and service providers such as funders, attorneys, accountants, etc.  The entrepreneurs selected their preferred dates, and organizers created a schedule for all participants that included up to nine speed dates of 8 minutes each.

View from my speed dating table

View from my speed dating table on the balcony, prior to my first date. Note more dating stations on main floor.

After the dating portion of the afternoon, Mr. Leach gave a short talk on NEO entrepreurism and Jumpstart, and a VC panel concluded the formal portion of the afternoon.  Time was left for another hour plus on the floor for visiting with exhibitors and networking with refreshments.

All in all, a great event, especially noteworth for a first-time event.  Very well done!

I visited with (or speed dated) many of the startups and their entrepreneurs.  Notable startups included:

Backpack is a peer-to-peer platform that gives people access to overseas markets by connecting buyers and travelers.

Bold Guidance is a mobile app that helps guide students through college application process, while letting counselors and parents view their progress.

Cleveland Whiskey has developed technology to accelerate the production of whiskey and is producing and selling product.

Crowdentials  makes regulatory compliance software that helps private companies and investors alike navigate the regulations of the JOBS Act.

GiveNext is an online and mobile dashboard where donors transact and manage their charitable giving in partnership with the causes about which they care.

HolePatch offers an alternative to temporary pothole patching which consists of a durable bag containing a customized non-Newtonian fluid.

MiracleFone is developing a product that enables users to receive a phone call to “interrupt” a talkative coworker or awkward social situation.

Prezto is a remote gifting company that allows you to instantly and spontaneously send a gift to a friend.

Right Time is building a mathematical system that measures criminal offender rehabilitation efforts in real-time.

StreamLink Software provides web-based grant and board management software.

By the way, the Cleveland Museum of Art is located in University Circle adjacent to Case Western Reserve University, the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Severance Hall, and other civic treasures.

 

Rodin's The Thinker at front of Museum of Art with Peter B. Lewis Building shining in background.

Rodin’s The Thinker at front of Museum of Art with Peter B. Lewis Building shining in background. For more on The Thinker see http://www.clevelandart.org/research/in-the-library/collection-in-focus/rodins-thinker.

The day after the Expo, Tuesday, I drove to Pittsburgh to discuss a business opportunity with a specialized wealth manager started and managed by a Princeton classmate.

On Wednesday, I met with Charles Stack of Flashstarts and discussed a range of subjects  including the small fund Flashstarts is raising.  Later I attended a portion of a program organized by BioEnterprise that had a 1 hour VC panel which then yielded the floor to the featured entrepreneur, Mr. Stack.

On Wednesday I was very fortunate to meet with another Princeton classmate, J. Kearny Shanahan, who is a business lawyer in Cleveland and Washington.  (Coincidentally, Kearny is counsel to Expo participant, Bold Guidance, having provided services pro-bono during that firm’s idea/incubation stage.)  I alway enjoy and am most appreciative of Kearny’s time and wise comments – in that regard, Kearny gets full credit for suggesting the new & improved tagline on this blog’s header…Thank you, Kearny!

Posted in Entrepreneurs & Entrepreneurism, Start-ups | Leave a comment

Entrepreneurism in Northeast Ohio

Posted on April 21, 2014 by Krist

As I have often over the past decades,  earlier this month I visited Northeastern Ohio  including my hometown of Berea.  This trip I added two more days to my personal investment in the Cleveland business startup scene.

It isn’t well known that, for its size, and notwithstanding its industrial, rust belt heritage and inland location, Cleveland has a vibrant and growing entrepreneurial ecosystem.  Case Western Reserve University (“Case” refers to the former Case Institute of Technology) and the 40,000 employee Cleveland Clinic each have active licensing and spinout programs.  Several tax supported non-profits are targeted at providing support to early stage companies.  There is a handful of incubators including three profiled in the resource list below.

According to serial entrepreneur Charles Stack, founder of the incubator Flashstarts and a lifelong resident of Northeast Ohio (NEO), NEO has several attributes that are  favorable to businesses, particularly to new businesses, when compared with, for example, California:  low costs of real estate and people; traditional midwestern traits such as loyalty and the value placed on the social fabric;  it’s a good place raise a family with a decent pace, a superb arts community, and striving professional sports team.

Participants in Northeast Ohio (NEO) startup ecosystem include:

Universities

Baldwin Wallace University Center for Innovation and Growth (CIG)
CIG’s mission is to teach students to compete in a turbulent economy. The focus is on recognizing their passions and learning how entrepreneurship creates opportunities when governed by personal integrity.

Case Western Reserve University.

The CWRU Office of Research and Technology Mangemement  (TTO) serves CWRU innovators with full-spectrum intellectual property services. For both faculty and students, we provide intellectual property- and commercialization-related support that spans the research & development continuum. We serve our researchers by assessing and building upon the commercial potential of new ideas and inventions. Through interaction with our inventors, regional and national networks – including our affiliate healthcare systems – and potential commercial partners, we endeavor to determine the best path of translation and ultimate commercialization for university intellectual assets.

At CWRU, the Weatherhead School of Management offers undergraduate, graduate, and professional education in management.  Faculty member Scott Shane studies, writes, and teaches entrepreneurship and innovation management.  Weatherhead is headquartered in the spectacular Peter B. Lewis Building, designed by Frank Gehry.

Quite a building with a backstory to match!

Quite a building with a backstory to match!

Kent State University Office of Corporate Engagement and Commercialization
The Office of Corporate Engagement and Commercialization (OCEC) builds and expands long-term relationships with industry, leading to new research and development funding and innovative technologies for commercialization and economic development.

University of Akron Patents and Licensing
Akron is proud of its creative and talented faculty, staff and students, as well as a nationally recognized research foundation that facilitates licensing, collaboration and new venture creation through an open and easy process.

Other Non-Profits

Bioenterprise
BioEnterprise is a business formation, recruitment, and acceleration initiative designed to grow healthcare companies and commercialize bioscience technologies. Based in Cleveland, BioEnterprise’s founders and partners are Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals, Case Western Reserve University, Summa Health System and Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron.

Cleveland Clinic Innovations
Cleveland Clinic Innovations (CCI) is the commercialization arm of Cleveland Clinic. CCI turns the breakthrough inventions of Cleveland Clinic employees into patient-benefiting medical products. The creation of new business opportunities allows CCI to deliver Cleveland Clinic’s unique capabilities into the commercial market, while aiding in the economic growth of Northeast Ohio and beyond. CCI facilitates an inclusive entrepreneurial environment where invention is fostered as an activity in which all can participate – physicians, nurses, researchers, administrators, etc. CCI’s comprehensive approach includes sophisticated deal teams, domain experts, investment funds, executives-in-residence, allied investors, seed and technology validation funds, incubation, preclinical and prototype facilities – all poised to create companies and commercially deploy new medical technology.

The beautiful, calming fountain at the Clinic's main patient entrance.

The beautiful, calming fountain at the Clinic’s main patient entrance.

Since 2000, 66 companies have been enabled by Cleveland Clinic technology and expertise; nearly three-quarters of these companies have received more than $750 million in equity investment to date.

Jumpstart
Established in May 1983 as a 501c(3) nonprofit organization, JumpStart Inc. is a venture development organization that connects, advises and assists thousands of entrepreneurs each year across Northeast Ohio. JumpStart also serves as an investor, focused on significantly accelerating the development of the area’s most promising early-stage ideas and companies that in turn boost the region’s economy.

Nortec
NorTech is a technology-focused organization that strengthens Northeast Ohio’s economic vitality by accelerating the pace of innovation in the region. Nortech’s expertise in emerging industries to foster an innovation environment that provides companies of all sizes, higher education and research institutions, and individuals of diverse backgrounds with new opportunities for collaboration that create jobs, attract capital and have long-term, economic impact.

Aligned with Northeast Ohio’s strategic focus on emerging industries, Nortech targets industries not addressed by any other intermediaries: advanced energy, flexible electronics and water technologies.

Incubators/Accelerators

Bizdom
Bizdom was founded by serial entrepreneur Dan Gilbert, Founder and Chairman of Quicken Loans and Rock Ventures. Bizdom’s mission is to help provide the support and resources necessary for aspiring entrepreneurs to get their businesses off the ground in Detroit and Cleveland. Bizdom is a nonprofit organization. One hundred percent of the returns on our investments are recycled back into Detroit and Cleveland to launch more startups!

Flashstarts
Flashstarts is a Cleveland-based business startup accelerator and venture fund focused on unique and innovative uses of software and technology. Startups benefit from Flashstarts’ executive team’s deep expertise in Enterprise and Healthcare IT, Gigabit Fiber Applications, mobile and digital publishing and media. Flashstarts’ rigorous 12-week summer accelerator program is powered by rapid cycles of feedback and iteration, customized guidance from dedicated coaches, an extensive network of top-tier, experienced mentors and an award-winning intern program.

Cleveland Rocks! This sign in honor of R&R pioneer and entrepreneur Alan Freed, is just a door or two down from Flashstarts's building.

Cleveland Rocks! This sign in honor of R&R pioneer and entrepreneur Alan Freed, is just a door or two down from Flashstarts’s building.

Launchhouse
The mission of LaunchHouse is to create a hub of entrepreneurial innovation for promising startups and to help transform ideas into successful companies. LaunchHouse manages a growing portfolio of innovative startups. It focuses on promising entrepreneurs and ideas that have a high growth potential, and that can quickly achieve market validation with a ‘small’ financial outlay.

Other

North Coast Angel Fund
North Coast Angel’s mission is to accelerate technology start-up success and improve the state of early-stage funding in Ohio.

Ohio Venture Association
The Ohio Venture Association is a group of northeast Ohio business people dedicated to providing an atmosphere for the interchange of ideas on entrepreneurship, new ventures and venture capital. The Association provides a scheduled forum for this interchange.

In a future post I’ll report on the first NEO Entrepreneur Expo held in early April, in which I was a participant.

Posted in Entrepreneurs & Entrepreneurism, Start-ups | Leave a comment

PHX’s Musical Instrument Museum + Death Valley pupfish

Posted on March 25, 2014 by Krist

On consecutive weekends last month my wife & I traveled to Phoenix for a wedding and then to Death Valley for a car camping trip with family and friends.  This entry is to make note of a highlight from each trip to help me remember and also FYI.

We landed at the Phoenix airport mid morning the day before the wedding, and had most of the day to be tourists.  Some years earlier I’d read a lukewarm review of a new museum in Phoenix, the Musical Instrument Museum (MIM). It struck me as different enough to be interesting (to me at least), so we asked the airport concierge about its location and whether he felt it worthwhile.   “Absolutely” he said, going on to say he volunteered there at least 10 hrs/week and loved it, and that we’d need 4 or so hours to take it in.   Plus MIM had a really good restaurant.

After enduring a traffic jam at the car rental counter, we headed north to the MIM. Arriving at noon or so, we first visited its restaurant, open to all and which was very, very good.   It features fresh, local ingredients in a nice variety and a large, comfortable, serene patio.

With 200,000 square feet, MIM represents itself as “the World’s Only Global Musical Instrument Museum” and offers a large instrument collection organized by country – with a collection of over

MIM signage @E. Mayo & N. Tatum, 1 block S of AZ #101.

MIM signage @E. Mayo & N. Tatum, 1 block S of AZ #101.

Typical display, Mariachi, in Mexico section

Typical display, Mariachi, in Mexico section

15,000 instruments, those of over 200 countries are displayed along with signage on the country & instruments.  Most exhibits have short video clips which run continuously and whose sound is picked up wirelessly by one’s free (with admission) headset.   A pleasurable, educational experience.

MIM’s genesis is one man’s vision and mission, and his ability to enlist others to bring it to fruition.   MIM was founded by Robert J. Ulrich, former CEO and chairman emeritus of Target.  He provided a large seed funding gift and took on the leadership of raising additional funding, which, so far, has reached well into 9 figures.

We started through the museum with what was in front of us, the South America section, and worked our way through perhaps 100 countries by the 5 PM closing.  Before exiting, we upgraded our 1 day ticket to a 2 day ticket, and returned on Sunday on our way back to the airport for lunch and another 3 or so hours in the museum!  Lots more on the MIM at TheMIM.org.  Highly recommended.

The following weekend was a car camping trip in Death Valley National Park with 16 or so friends & family.  Let it be said, first, that Death Valley is a beautiful, striking place.  Yes, it’s warm to scorching hot much of the year and dry, especially this drought year.  But the landscape is grand and the shapes and geology are awesome.  These attributes help make what otherwise would be long driving distances a pleasure and provide the raw material for spectacular hiking.

(We camped for 3 nights. Had two really good, fairly short day hikes, Golden Canyon and Mosaic Canyon.)

After Mosaic, on the way back to our campsite at Furnace Creek, we stopped at the Salt Creek Interpretive Trail, a well done, most interesting walkway.

The Interpretive Trail offers a beautiful walk on elevated decking over a meandering Creek that’s home to the small (approx 1 inch), endangered Death Valley Pupfish.   Also known as the Salt Creek Pupfish, this fish is one of the 10 or so varieties of Cyprinodons, several of which are extinct.  It is a close relative to the Devil’s Hole Pupfish (DHP), perhaps the world’s most endangered fish, whose only natural habitat is 37 miles east of Salt Creek.   Considering its small size (average = .75 inch) and population (now under 100 individuals), the DHP one of the more intensely observed creatures around.   Most impressively, it was the central character in a strenuously litigated lawsuit.

In 1976, the Supreme Court (Cappaert v. United States, 426 U.S. 128 (1976)) ruled that the Devil’s Hole Pupfish had prior water rights and that a minimum level must be preserved in the Hole in order to ensure their protection. This decision helped build support for passage of the visionary U.S. environmental legislation of the 1970’s, stimulated creation of the Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, assisted in the transformation of Death Valley into a National Park, and was a primary force behind formation of the Desert Fishes Council (begun in November 1969).*

This paragraph is from the Lewis Center for Educational Research.  A second excellent resource on the DHP is the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.  These sites provide more background and up to date information on the DHP, which, at the time of this writing, are still in business,  notwithstanding their precarious lifestyle.

 

 

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SF Ocean Film Festival #11 – a brief review

Posted on March 11, 2014 by Krist

The 11th annual version of the San Francisco International Ocean Film Festival ended last Sunday – the festival was a smashing success with exceptional ocean-related films and record attendance.

46 films were screened from 17 countries with lengths of from 2 minutes to 75 minutes. Subject matter included sea creatures, birds, sand, and man. Filmmakers’ themes included human traditions and behavioral dimensions, sport, invasive species, rising waters, sinking lands, science, and other aspects of the marine environment. The five animated films screened, none over 6 minutes, were more than any previous festival.

Everyone’s tastes are different, and every filmmaker has made a consuming effort to produce his/her film with little promise of monetary reward, so I’ve always refrained from naming “favorites” or “best” of anything. That having been said, here is a sampling of some of the films screened that I found agreeable with my preferences, along with links to the film or its trailer:

Film Name Description
A Day in the Life of Lolita (9 minutes) Oldest captive killer whale is featured along with a sympathetic scientist
Can’t Stop the Water (34) In Louisiana, a community is losing its land as the waters rise
Changing Seas – Alien Invaders (27) Intelligent film on studying an invader with a jujitsu-like ending
Defeating Oceans Seven (52) Compelling portrait of a very determined marathon swimmer
Drole D’Histoire (A Strange Story) (5) Precise, artistic, suspenseful film featuring a crafty predator; in the spirit of Jean Painleve
Extinction Soup (58) Multithreaded story centered on shark finning
Great White Encounter: The Scott Stephens Story (30) Exceptional recounting of a shark attack
Haenyeo: Women of the Sea (12) Elderly Korean women carry on a tradition of free diving
Sand Wars (75) Very well done piece on the rapidly growing sand extraction industry
The Sunnydale Kids (4) Kids from the projects having fun in the surf
The Trickster (2) Animated, humorous short with seniors in the lineup
Tracking Alaska’s Godwits (20) Scientists working to discover the birds’ flight path for their annual 3 leg, 18,000 mile trek around the Pacific. 
Well Fished (20) A talented first time filmmaker offers a sketch of 2 girlfriends who fish

In addition to the 11 full film programs, the festival included special, tailored screenings for middle school students – thousands attended these programs.

In conjunction with the festival, a competition was held for student film creations of 5 minutes or less.  Over 40 entries were received, and the top 10 entries, as determined by a 5 person panel and a rigorous judging process, were screened in the Saturday morning program.  These films were truly original and engaging, and the many producers and actors in attendance made it a most festive morning.

A sampling of returning festival attendees, some of whom, along with the author, have attended all 11 festivals, seemed to confirm my belief that this was the best SF Int’l Ocean Film Festival yet.

Posted in Books & Films, Non-profits, San Francisco | Leave a comment

Domain Names #5 – update on new TLDs

Posted on February 11, 2014 by Krist

On February 5th, several new gTLDs launched!  From DotWhatever.com, we quote:

“Today at 8am PST, a new phase in domain name branding begins as General Availability for seven New gTLD’s will now be available to the general public for registration:  .bike, .clothing, .guru, .holdings, .plumbing, .singles, and .ventures.  After all of the debates and arguments for those for and against introducing new extensions to the domain market, the new gTLDs are finally here.  But is the general public ready for them?  Do they even know they exist?  The people behind these New gTLD’s are certainly banking that they are and do, and that these extensions will be attractive to businesses and people for their branding potential.”

After about a week for the extensions mentioned, we have the following data on registrations:

gTLD   Registered @   2/11/14 % of total
COM 112,299,985 74.81%
NET 15,177,201 10.11%
ORG 10,396,495 6.93%
INFO 5,723,045 3.81%
BIZ 2,649,015 1.76%
US 1,808,473 1.20%
MOBI 1,070,565 0.71%
ASIA 363,950 0.24%
NAME 160,077 0.11%
TEL 147,708 0.10%
PRO 113,283 0.08%
XXX 109,291 0.07%
GURU   25,393 0.02%
TRAVEL 18,904 0.01%
AERO 18,267 0.01%
COOP 7,522 0.01%
BIKE   6,031 0.00%
CLOTHING   5,450 0.00%
SINGLES   3,959 0.00%
VENTURES   3,047 0.00%
HOLDINGS   2,032 0.00%
PLUMBING   1,961 0.00%
PHOTOGRAPHY 498 0.00%
EQUIPMENT 383 0.00%
ESTATE 340 0.00%
LIGHTING 302 0.00%
GALLERY 204 0.00%
GRAPHICS 200 0.00%
CAMERA 180 0.00%
Totals 150,113,761 100.00%

From the above, one can see that the dot-com extension dominates registrations.  Second, it appears to this observer the extensions released February 5th are probably not achieving the popularity their sponsors had hoped/projected…  But, of course, it’s still early in the game.

For my part, I’ve registered a handful or two of dot-ventures domains and a number of dot-guru’s.  The dot-ventures names either mirror domains I have in dot-com or seem like good speculations.  The dot-guru names I’ve registered are either “geo domains,” that is domains whose value is/will be linked to a specific geographic location, or a domain with a profession or vocation to the left of the dot.

More to follow, but not right away – there are other subjects worth our time.

 

 

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Domain Names #4 – Selected resources

Posted on February 11, 2014 by Krist

If the reader of the earlier posts on domains would like to dig deeper, I offer the following (curated) selection of resources.

Selected resources on domains/domaining:
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers – ICANN oversees the Internet.

The ICANN portal for new TLDs is the go-to place for information on the new TLDs and related ICANN policy.

The ICANN portal for UDRP – the Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy describes itself and is in use everyday.

Internet Archive: Wayback Machine – a portal to what a domain’s website showed in times past.

The Trademark Clearinghouse is a global repository for trademark data, the first of its kind in the domain name space; it will play an important role in the New gTLD Program and in the ongoing protection of trademark rights.

Commentary on domaining;
CircleID – is focused on the Internet infrastructure serving related news, blogs, opinions, and more.

DNForum – is the largest forum on the web where people go to buy, sell and talk about domain names.

DNJournal – offers editorials and interviews focusing on the domain name industry.

DNSale price – is a searchable database of domain names sales.

Domain Name Wire – is a leading news site covering the domain name industry: domain registration, domain parking, legal issues, new gTLDs.

ICANNWiki – is an independent, collaborative resource for the ICANN community.

TheDomains, one of many blogs on domains & domaining.  A couple of others: DomainNameWire.com & DomainInvesting.com.

Vendors (sample):
101domain.com – specializes in International Domain Registrations.

Domain Tools – offers a database for Whois, domain name & DNS data for brand monitoring, cyber investigation and domain research.

Donuts – is a two year old company formed and financed to apply for and manage new gTLDs.

GoDaddy – is a major domain name registrar.

MarkMonitor – offers services including brand protection, domain name management, domain registration, and anti-fraud.

RegistrarStats.com – Statistics/data on domain name registrations.

VeriSign – registry for top-level domains (TLDs) including .com and .net.

Other:
Berkman Center – is a research center at Harvard University focused on the impact of technology on society.

Berkeley Center for Law & Technology – is to foster the advancement of technology by promoting the understanding and guiding the development of intellectual property and related fields of law. At UC Berkeley.

Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) – is a donor-supported  organization working to protect fundamental rights regardless of technology; to educate, etc.

Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) –  is a public interest research center that tracks news and legislation on First Amendment, and constitutional issues of privacy.

Stanford Center for Internet and Society – studies the interaction of new technologies and the law and offers related public programs.

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Domain Names #3 – more on new TLDs

Posted on January 28, 2014 by Krist

The ICANN process for new TLDs, in brief:

There were 4 categories for applications: Brand (for owners of trademarked brands), Geography (by a city, state, etc.), IDN (non-Latin alphabet), and General (all else).  For each new TLD application, there was a $185,000 application fee due to ICANN.  (Adding to that the costs of preparing and managing an application, any application’s cost was, for even the most thrifty, more than $250,000.)  If two or more applicants had applications accepted by ICANN for the same gTLD string, an auction managed by ICANN would ensue unless the contending parties could agree on a deal beforehand.  Yes, there are a number of contested strings, and applicants are negotiating now, with ICANN to step in soon.

As far as who the more committed applicants were, Google applied for 100 new gTLDs, Amazon for 75, and a well financed startup, Donuts, applied for 306.

The scuttlebutt is that the right to “own” and manage some of the new gTLDs has already been valued at over $10 million each, which shouldn’t be too surprising in that single dot-com domain names have sold for more than $10 million.

Many applicants filed for just a single TLD.  As best can be inferred, no applications were filed by Apple, Wells Fargo, Starbucks, Hewlett-Packard, Cisco, Proctor & Gamble, and many other large name brand companies. Especially in the “branded” segment, it’s apparent there is diversity of thought when it comes to new TLDs.  Only time will tell and it will be interesting to see how brands’ use of the names evolves over the next couple of years.

For a more thorough review of the new gTLD process, go to ICANNWiki.com.  For an even more detailed look at the process, see the 338 page Applicants Guidebook (v-1), if you dare.

One thing is certain: all these new TLDs are the foundation of a new Full Employment Act for IP lawyers and litigators.

Here’s a spreadsheet with the accepted TLD applicants*:

*Information from a reliable source and believed to be accurate, but not warranted.

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Domain Names #2 – NamesCon conference

Posted on January 21, 2014 by Krist

Last week in Las Vegas, a new conference, NamesCon, took place.  Namescon was created in direct response to the expanding list of TLDs, a subject described briefly in the post Domain Names #1.  Evidently, the subject matter hit a chord, as the conference had nearly 600 registered attendees, almost 50% more than planned.

In the past, there have been many Internet-related conferences and, within that broad category, there have been several specialized periodic conferences for those who speculate and trade in domain names (“domainers”).   While domainers were one type of prospect for attending NameCon, other prospects included new registry operators, registrars, and brand managers.

By way of industry background:  With 1000 or so new Internet gTLDs expected to go into service over the next couple of years (50X today’s count of 19!), each TLD will be managed by a registry operator.  Each registry will require distribution to prospective registrants (domain buyers) – registries do this is by making their TLD’s domains available to their registrars (such as GoDaddy).

In promotional materials, NamesCon described itself as follows:  “With over 400 attendees expected, NamesCon will be the largest Conference dedicated exclusively for the Internet Name Industry…There is no channel like the internet domain name channel, and 2014 is an amazing year of expansion, growth, change and opportunities in all areas of the registry, registrar and registrant internet name space.”

So, NamesCon content was created to appeal to domainers, registrars, and registries.  Additionally, since 600+ companies have applied for their brand as a TLD, brand managers were another target market.

Namescon content was comprised of several talks and related Q&A as well as 30 panels with 3-5 knowledgeable participants each.  Legendary domainer, Frank Schilling gave a keynote and conveyed his belief there are or would be abundant opportunities for all in the expanding namespace.  A late addition to the presenters list was Matt Mullenweg, the leading evangelist for WordPress and an impressive entrepreneur who had just turned 30.

Matt Mullenweg, WordPress fan

Matt Mullenweg, WordPress fan

He touched on the growth of WordPress and had insightful comments on a range of related issues.

(If you’d like to learn more about the conference’s content, as of this date the conference program details remains accessible at Namescon.com.)

I attended as many panels as I could, including switching within sessions several times.  So I probably sat in for some or all of 20 or so of the panels and listened fairly carefully (in many cases, to panelists who were obviously just guessing!).  My perspective was that of an entrepreneur who was looking into whether there may be an opportunity for him in this rapidly changing environment.  The short answer is maybe because, at this moment, a slam-dunk opportunity is not obvious.

(Sidebar: If there is an opportunity for me, it is most likely within the new gTLDs such as .music, .health, .baby, etc.  The approach would be one of pure speculation – soon after activation of a TLD, acquire names that could be valuable in the future.

However, there’s a lot of risk in acquiring domains for hard cash so early in the game:  one doesn’t know how well the gTLD will do generally – will the registry promote the TLD well and support registrars so they will be motivated to sell those domains to registrants?  Will the TLD be popular?  What will the neighbors (other domains within the TLD) be like?  Will there ever be a true “user” of such a domain?  Will that user surface soon enough and be willing to pay enough for the endeavor, acquisition and inventorying of names, to be worthwhile?  How much time will it all take?)

Looming over the new gTLDs are the old gTLDs including the ubiquitous .com.  Dot coms have benefitted from wide use and advertising, and are what most consumers associate with the Internet.  It may take a generation or more for any given new gTLD to gain the mindshare it needs for any domain member to be the (or even a) “go-to” domain.

My conclusion on the new gTLDs is to go slowly.  For any domain, it may be too long a time to liquidity, if ever.

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