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Don Dodge
Director, Business Development, Microsoft
http://www.microsoftstartupzone.com/blogs/the_next_big_thing/default.aspx
Hampton, New Hampshire, United States
Employee
Member since: June 19, 2008
Director, Business Development, Microsoft
http://www.microsoftstartupzone.com/blogs/the_next_big_thing/default.aspx
Hampton, New Hampshire, United States
Employee
Member since: June 19, 2008
About Don
Bio
I have been in the software business for more than 20 years. I started my software career with Digital Equipment Corp, aka DEC, in the database group. I worked with 5 software start-ups over the next 12 years. Forte Software was the first multiplatform object oriented development environment. AltaVista was the first search engine on the web. Napster was the first P2P file sharing network. Bowstreet was the first web services development environment. Groove Networks was the first secure P2P collaboration platform. Now I am at Microsoft...the biggest start-up in the world... working with VC's and start-ups in the greater Boston area. The goal is to help VC's and start-ups be successful with Microsoft, and together, provide great products for our customers.
Don's connections (3)
| Bambi Francisco Roizen | CEO and Founder, Vator, Inc. |
| David Saad | Chairman & CEO, Clupedia Corporation |
| Thomas Sheahan | CEO, Red Oxygen |
View all »
Don's comments (6)
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Entrepreneurs need to have thick skin and not let rejection bother them. Rejection by VCs hurts sometimes. But, we should put it in context. That is why I used our own stock / mutual fund selection process as an example. We rejst lots of good opportunities too.
on Why VCs say NO 99% of the time (August 06, 2008)
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Startup success is a balancing act. As both David and Ezra point out it is a balance between confidence and arrogance,strength and stubborness, vision vs listening, and a hundred other things.
The founder is like a great chef. Two chefs can use all the same ingredients to bake a cake, but one is moist and tasty and the other is dry and different. Why? The balance of ingredients was different, the cooking time may have been different, the cooking tempurature may have been different. All the same ingredients...but a different outcome. That is what makes building a successful startup so difficult.
on Success is a terrible teacher (July 20, 2008)
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Bambi, Thanks for your comment and insight. You are doing a great job with VatorNews. I like the way you link to "related companies and entrepreneurs" like Jeremy and Fred above. The "Related news" story of Richard Rosenblatt is also a perfect compliment to this post. Well done!
It is clear that you have learned many lessons from reporting on startups over the years. It is always less painful when you can learn from others mistakes.
on Success is a terrible teacher (July 19, 2008)
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Matthias, One of my favorite expressions is "The next big thing will be the old thing done in a new way". I think that is what you are saying here. Google did many things well, but the two really important things were 1)making search results more relevant, and 2) making text advertisements relevant to the search query. It was teh ad relevancy that made them all the money. Yet, Google hasn't been able to figure out how to monetize YouTube. It is just too random. Then of course there is the copyright problem...
on Does Web 2.0 = Bubble 2.0? (July 12, 2008)
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Bambi, I agree on the niche site point. If the site is focused on a valuable niche audience the advertisers will pay much higher CPMs. Too many sites are random collections of user generated content that is very difficult to monetize.
A couple hundred thousand page views from a valuable niche audience can make a lot of money. The key is to find the advertisers who value the niche audience.
on Does Web 2.0 = Bubble 2.0? (July 12, 2008)
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Posted: December 11, 2008
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