VatorNews - Vator innovation series

What am I Missy

Vator innovation series

Host Meliza Solan looks at top stories across VatorNews and offers an irreverent, curious and comical take on what's happening across technology news. The name "What am I Missy" is a play on Meliza's name, and was suggested by Guy Kawasaki.

All episodes

Juice Pitcher leaderboard

by Meliza Solan Surdi, September 26, 2009 | Comments (4)

What am I Missy Episode 35 - Juice Pitcher, Microsoft poaching Apple employees, and Smule

This episode is brought to you by our sponsor Smule. For those of you who have the Ocarina app on your iPhone or iPod touch, Smule has just released a new songbook. Head over to Smule.com to download it and learn to play folk songs from around the world!" The newest event in Silicon Valley is shaping up to be ...

Beatles mania; Google's subscription service

by Meliza Solan Surdi, September 12, 2009 | Comments (4)

What am I Missy Episode 34 - Beatles stuck in 20th century; Free vs paid; Smule's contest

This episode is brought to you by our sponsor Smule, the creators of iPhone applications like Ocarina, has a cool "Feel the Love" contest running. Users who have Leaf Trombone can register to win $500 at http://www.smule.com/. You just need to sign-up, and get as much love from your friends as possible. They can listen to your registered performance, and send ...

Marvel's next super hit; Aloqa and white lies

by Meliza Solan Surdi, September 5, 2009 | Comments (2)

What am I Missy Episode 33 - Disney and Marvel; Aloqa's mobile discovery; Smule's contest

AOL milks the cow; plus Amazon vs. Sony

by Meliza Solan Surdi, August 29, 2009 | Comments (3)

What am I Missy, Episode 32 - AOL, the Kindle vs e-Reader, Smule's competition

Bill Gurley declares IPO market open

by Meliza Solan Surdi, August 22, 2009 | Comments (4)

What am I Missy, Episode 31 - VCs predict Zynga, LinkedIn will IPO soon and Smule competition

FriendFeed now called Friendbook

by Meliza Solan Surdi, August 15, 2009 | Comments (11)

What am I Missy Episode 30 - NYTimes should keep Boston Globe, Friendfeed and Smule competition

Cash-strapped New York Times Company has an offer for the Boston Globe. California Private Equity is bidding $35 million dollars and the assumption of $59 million in liabilities. It really doesn't sound so bad only when you consider the Times bought the Globe for a billion back in 1993. With that low-ball offer, the Times should just walk away. Imagine what ...

What am I Missy, Episode 29

by Meliza Solan Surdi, August 8, 2009 | Comments (4)

Twitter patent infringement; Palm Pre's advertising; Smule's competition

This segment was brought to you by Smule, the popular iPhone app maker. Smule, the creators of awesome iPhone apps like Ocarina, has a cool "Feel the Love" contest running. Users who have Leaf Trombone can register to win $500 at Smule. You just need to sign up, and get as much love from your friends as possible. They can ...

What Am I Missy? Episode 28

by Meliza Solan Surdi, August 1, 2009 | Comments (5)

Distress brings opportunity; Stick to what you're good at; Be cool and use Smule

During times of distress, great startups often emerge. Hewlett-Packard rose up at the end of the depression and FedEx was born during the oil crisis. Recently, tiny Airbnb came to be. During the "no-money-to-pay-the-rent crisis, the founders started renting out extra space to travelers on a budget. The big lesson learned is that difficult times often lead to opportunity. See:Travel the world with Airbnb So ...

Trent Reznor, MySpace and addiction

by Meliza Solan Surdi, July 25, 2009 | Comments (4)

	What am I Missy, Episode 27 Musician Trent Reznor has three big simple words for unknown artists: “GIVE IT AWAY.” Reznor, in a post on the Nine Inch Nails forums, gave aspiring musicians two options to succeed today. Number one is for those aiming to be pop superstars, go ahead and sign up with a major record label and give up your rights to your music. ...
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What Am I Missy? Episode 26

by Meliza Solan Surdi, July 10, 2009 | Comments (7)

China's great Firewall; Stoned Biz; Tips from Gruber

What does “GFWed” stand for? It means the “The Great Firewall in China”. Yes, China this week put up a firewall to block its citizens from accessing sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. The move, as you can imagine, caused a fury across the blogosphere! But come on China. It's "Social" media. We're not talking about "capitalist-pig, free-market" media. ...

What Am I MIssy? Episode 25

by Meliza Solan Surdi, July 3, 2009 | Comments (17)

Yahoo slims down; You Tube's Journalism school; No one is a visionary

After being bloated with under-performing assets, Yahoo is definitely going on a strict diet. CEO Carol Bartz has been shutting down units left and right. The latest is its video advertising unit, which was created through the acquisition of Maven Networks for 160 million dollars last year. Seems Bartz is sending a message to the world:Yahoo time to slim down. See: Yahoo shutters ...

Autographing Kindles; Machines vs humans

by Meliza Solan Surdi, June 20, 2009 | Comments (8)

	What am I Missy, Episode 24 MySpace has slashed its bloated staff by 30%. It is often said that being smaller means being more nimble and hence innovative. And, the startup culture of innovation is just what new CEO Owen Van Natta is trying to usher in. It must have been tough to make that hard decision, like cutting staff. But unfortunately, it may be the ...
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Dysfunctional Wikipedia; Winning a Webby

by Meliza Solan Surdi, June 13, 2009 | Comments (11)

	What am I Missy, Episode 23 Have you ever wondered what Wikipedia or a portion of Wikipedia would look like printed? For some reason Rob Matthews printed out 5,000 pages of Wikipedia's featured articles. Why did he do it? According to Matthews: "Reproducing Wikipedia in a dysfunctional physical form helps to question its use as an Internet resource." Although I am not sure what point Matthews ...
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