AlacraBlog

Teaser Blog Post @ Bubblegeneration

I have posted before about how difficult it is for me to blog consistently, given that I can't write anything at all controversial about the business information industry.  The most compelling bloggers post consistently and have an edge or point of view that can generate lots of comments/conversation.  Umair Haque at Bubblegeneration is a leader in this category and on Thursday posted what is essentially a teaser or movie trailer blog post:

Is Etsy the Next Google?

So let's discuss a topic people seem to be quite interested in.

Is Etsy the next Google?  I think it just might be.

I'll save the reasons for tomorrow - suffice it to say that the amount of value Etsy can potentially unlock is absolutely world-changing. Those of you who've followed bubblegen for a while know it's been my favorite play for a very, very long time.

Just like Goog solved a Very Big Problem, so can Etsy...I'm just not sure the Etsy kru fully sees it yet. But then, neither did Google, from 1997-2002.

For now, fire away and let everyone know what you think.

Etsy, for the unfamiliar, is a rapidly growing, well-funded start-up based in Brooklyn with the tagline "Your place to buy & sell all things handmade."  I don't know how Etsy can be the next Google - maybe the next eBay - but Umair has a theory and now all his readers are waiting for his next post to see what the theory is.  I can't wait to see how he's going to explain this.

Alacra to Integrate FT Content

Alacra and the Financial Times this week announced an agreement for Alacra to provide access to FT Content on the Alacra platform.

Last fall, the FT announced a new licensing model, governing subscription access to FT content.  Under the new model, enterprise clients will now licence their content directly from the FT.

The FT-Alacra agreement provides our mutual customers with flexibility in how they utilize FT content with Alacra workflow applications such as Alacra Premium and Alacra Book. The FT content will be available on Alacra beginning in April.

For more information on accessing the FT via Alacra, contact your Alacra representative.

 

Alacra seeks Business Development Manager

Alacra has an immediate opportunity for a business development manager with 1-3 years experience in an online biz dev role. This position will be responsible for recruiting partners for our newest offering, the Premium Content Ad Network, along with related products.

Candidates should have a proven track record in targeting and recruiting partners for an online business and should have a strong understanding of internet business models including affiliate marketing and online advertising. 

The position is based in our downtown NYC headquarters.

Qualified candidates should email their CV to nyjobs (at) alacra (dot) com.

Full position details are provided on the Alacra website.

Alpha Schmalpha

There was a lot of side talk at Money:Tech about information that can generate alpha.  Basically the theme was if discover or create some proprietary data that will generate excess risk-adjusted returns, why would you sell it?  You should trade it!  Bill Janeway of Warburg Pincus offered something like the following:  "Alpha is the money you make when you perform better than the market.  Schmalpha is the money you make when you perform better than your clients..."

Will Sell-Side Research Share the Fate of the Music Industry?

Henry Blodget of Silicon Alley Insider, Barry Ritholtz of FusionIQ, Nouriel Roubini of RGE Monitor and Jonathan Glick of Gerson Lehrman Group were on a Money:Tech panel chaired by Paul Kedrosky called Blogs, Analysts and the Future of Equity Research.  Part of the discussion was about the value of research being largely related to how much trust a reader will place in a writer.  Years ago it was believed you could only trust the recommendations of an analyst employed by a well-known sell-side shop.  Now a blogger can established a track record as a knowledgeable analyst and can develop trust and an audience.  And Gerson Lehrman will connect a trusted blogger, who has a specific area of expertise, with a hedge fund or private equity investor for private consultation.
The last few minutes of the session focused on research monetization and it struck me that the sell-side research business is displaying a number of similarities to the music business.  Leaving aside the fact that both are/were "hits" businesses - Institutional Investor rankings and Grammys tend to drive revenue of the analyst, artist and their "label" - it seems as if sell-side firms and majors labels can no longer monetize their investment in equity research and artist promotion as they have in the past - through commissions, deal flow or CD sales. Bloggers (independent research producers) and increasingly independent musicians monetize their product/talent through page views, subscriptions to special services and through public or private appearances.  Gerson Lehrman seems to be the  the major booking agency for blogger "performances" just as Live Nation is for musicians.
And just as there are aggregation sites for music (think hypemachine) there are also aggregation sites for independent research like Seeking Alpha.  Although I don't know of any public filing sharing networks for sell-side research (there is some stuff on Scribd) there is themarkets.com, which is essentially a closed-file sharing community.  It seems as if both industries are broken; fortunately for the sell-side their research was never their entire business.

Money:Tech - Day One

Today was a mixed bag for the first-ever Money:Tech conference hosted by Paul Kedrosky and Tim O'Reilly of O'Reilly Media.  The morning was terrific: Tim did his Web 2.0 overview, which I've heard/seen before, but this time it was well-tailored for the audience.  Then Jim Cramer came on and was on fire.  More interesting nuggets in 30 minutes than pretty much the entire afternoon.  As everyone knows, it's not just what he says it's how he says it.  Cramer highlights:

• Sell-side research will go away - it provides imperfect information
• Two things he reads: Implode-O-Meter and Seeking Alpha.  He wants to hire some Seeking Alpha writers for The Street.com
• Bloomberg (the terminal) is king.  "Other than Bloomberg no one has an edge."  They (Bloomberg) come out with new  valuable stuff daily.
• Thomson-Reuters should spend tons of money on research to offer an alternative to Bloomberg.

Larry Tabb of Tabb Group gave a very informative presentation on trends in liquidity for equity transactions, focusing on the emergence of dark pools.
My friend Dave Leinweber gave a great talk on the history and future of financial information.  And then there was lunch.

The afternoon was interesting but lacked energy.  Steve Steinberg, a "financial markets data hacker" presented a wealth of experience regarding where to look for (and where not to look for) an edge in collecting data that might generate alpha.  Rob Passarella of Bear Stearns led a panel on "Building a Better Information Beast." This panel was probably half an hour too short, in that there were 4 panelists and they didn't get enough time to explain their value proposition. 

More tomorrow.

Prolific: Characterized by an abundance of production

Tomorrow and Thursday two prolific people are hosting a conference in New York called Money:Tech.  Prolific blogger Paul Kedrosky of Infectious Greed and prolific publisher and conference-thrower Tim O'Reilly have teamed up to create a conference that probably should have been created years ago, even through the theme is "Web 2.0 meets Wall Street."  The challenge of course is that if you have secret formula for alpha, you're not going to share it.  And if Web 2.0 is in some measure defined by "transparency," you lose your edge pretty quickly showing your cards in a trading environment.  But the ability to mash-up data and applications has never been easier and I my guess is that the conference take-away will be "new ways to find an edge."  I'm looking forward to it.

That Was Fun

Great day for a parade.  The rain held up, it wasn't too cold and the fans were out in force.     Hopefully we'll do this again in the fall for Santana and the Mets!                           
   

No Green Jerseys Today

We have a terrific view of the Giants parade out our 11th floor window at 100 Broadway.  We have the windows open and noise coming in, so not much work is getting done this morning.  We'll post some more pictures later.

Funny, Funnier, Funniest and True

I read the first few lines of Marc Andreessen's post Inaugurating the New York Times Deathwatch in my RSS reader.  He wrote:

The hiring of Bill Kristol was the last straw.

I can't take it anymore.

I hereby inaugurate my New York Times Deathwatch, which will continue until the last Sulzberger has left the building.

Which I agree with completely.  Bill Kristol!  They're killing us.  But the post gets funnier and better as Marc skewers the entire NY Times Board of Directors:

Well, given that the Internet is the central force dismantling the company's business, I'm sure that by now they've stocked their board with noted Internet experts. Let's see:

• Brenda C. Barnes -- CEO of Sara Lee; noted snack cake expert
• Raul E. Cesan -- former CEO of Schering-Plough; noted Levitra expert
• Daniel H. Cohen -- president of DeepSee LLC, "an oceanic exploration and submarine leasing company"; noted Jacques Cousteau expert
• Lynn G. Dolnick -- former head of exhibits for the National Zoologic Park in Washington DC; noted marsupial expert
• Michael Golden -- current publisher of the International Herald Tribune; former head of the company's Women's Publishing Division; noted sundress expert
• William E. Kennard -- former head of the FCC; noted "seven dirty words" expert
• James M. Kilts -- former CEO of Gillette; noted smooth, smooth shave expert; prior to that, unindicted coconspirator at Philip Morris; noted expert on your grandfather's hacking cough
• David E. Liddle -- here I have to take a pause as I actually know this one; based on what's happening at the company, it could be reasonably asked whether he's actually attending the board meetings.
• Ellen R. Marram -- former CEO of Nabisco; noted Oreo expert. Oh, wait, she actually ran an Internet company: "From 1999 until 2000, Ms. Marram was president and chief executive officer of efdex Inc. (the Electronic Food & Drink Exchange), an Internet-based commodities exchange for the food and beverage industry." Ooh. I wonder if that ended well.
• Thomas Middelhoff -- former CEO of Bertelsmann; noted expert on complicated family politics -- well, that's probably coming in handy...
• Janet L. Robinson -- current CEO of the New York Times Company; noted expert on horrific business implosions
• Doreen A. Toben -- CFO of Verizon; noted 30-year debenture expert
• And finally, Arthur O. Sulzberger, Jr. -- the Big Kahuna -- the Man -- the Guy In Charge -- the chairman and scion -- the dude with the cojones to actually defend Judy Miller.  Not noted Internet expert.

So, if you want to issue bonds to pay for FCC-approved snack cake manufacturing in a submarine on display at a national park by a sundress-wearing cigarette-puffing Levitra-popping Judy Miller, you're pretty much set.

Go team!