Category Archives: Innovation

Some Angel and VC investors are averse to cold water

Posted on June 25, 2015 by markkolier

This past Monday evening I attended my fourth NYC Silicon Dragon event hosted by Rebecca Fannin of Silicon Dragon.  Rebecca (author of the 2011 book Start-up Asia ) always puts together an interesting program and she conducts these programs all … Continue reading →

Posted in Angel Investing, Business in Asia, Business in China, Innovation, International business, Start ups, Venture Capital | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Is your brand right for ABC’s Shark Tank?

Posted on March 12, 2015 by markkolier

Working with start-up companies is intense as the stakes are high and often the fees are low.  It’s something I and our team have a great deal of experience with and no two start-ups have ever been remotely alike in … Continue reading →

Posted in Advertising, Brand Advertising, Innovation, Marketing stuff, Reality Television | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Pebble watch barely makes a wave

Posted on January 12, 2015 by markkolier

          Back in June of last year I wrote that wearable technology still had a long way to go.  Having just attended a conference on wearable technology I was very unimpressed with what was available in terms … Continue reading →

Posted in Customer Experiences, Facebook, Innovation, Technology | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Have you actually ever stayed in an airbnb place?

Posted on October 17, 2014 by markkolier

Before a couple of weeks ago I would have had to say – no, I think airbnb is a cool idea but I’ve never stayed anywhere via their portal.   That’s not true any longer, I’ve taken the plunge.  It wasn’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Customer Experiences, Innovation, Living in the World Today, Sharing economy, Travel | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

New from Amazon – WOOT!

Posted on July 24, 2014 by markkolier

Quietly last week on July 12, 2014 Amazon.com began promoting Woot.com.   I know this because I was ‘invited’ to join. Being curious I did just that. The home page offered what I felt was the burning question – ‘WHAT IS … Continue reading →

Posted in Consumer Behavior, Customer Experiences, Daily Deals, Innovation | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Fitness apps and 10,000 steps a day

Posted on March 17, 2014 by markkolier

A week ago I traded in my old Motorola Droid Razr and picked up (at Costco believe it or not which has great prices on non-iPhones) a Samsung Galaxy S4.  For a number of reasons it feels as if I … Continue reading →

Posted in Customer Experiences, Innovation, Mobile Communication | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Why wouldn’t Google buy Ford or GM?

Posted on December 9, 2013 by markkolier

On my mind often is the development of the Google car.  I’ve posted about it more than once  http://wp.me/pn6jX-Ny  as I feel that this is one of the most interesting and potentially useful technological innovations – ever. It came to mind … Continue reading →

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Supercell is the latest fast rising online game fad company

Posted on October 24, 2013 by markkolier

Following is an article from last week’s Wall Street Journal that I found extremely interesting as it relates to the ‘faditzation’ of mobile games. (I have edited it only slightly.) ‘Last week on October 16 Japan’s  Softbank Corp. agreed to … Continue reading →

Posted in Best business practices, Innovation, Media, Mobile Communication, Mobile Gaming | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Kindle Fire can’t be the best that Amazon can do

Posted on June 13, 2013 by markkolier

Even before I had bought the original Kindle in 2007 (this was pre-iPad days if you’ll recall), I had been a longtime fan of Jeff Bezos and Amazon.com.   Back in the 1990’s I bought some Amazon.com stock @ $11/share only … Continue reading →

Posted in Best business practices, Community, Customer Experiences, Innovation, Leadership, Mobile Communication, Technology | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Thinking outside of the box is easier when you were never in the box in the first place

Posted on June 3, 2013 by markkolier

We’ve been interviewing a number of very smart and qualified young candidates for summer internships.   One thing that has struck me is that when we have met with foreign students (as well as American students) the foreign students have shown … Continue reading →

Posted in Best business practices, Brand Advertising, Innovation, Listening | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments