NCAA iPhone app; MySpace cuts? M&A recovery
What am I Missy - Episode 13
It's a dream come true for NCAA junkies. For only $5, you can watch all the March Madness basketball games in the palm of your hand on an iPhone! You don't have to ever worry about secretly watching the games on your computer, or sneaking out during work hours to a bar with a TV! And, it's a huge leap forward from the days you couldn't even choose what to watch. There’s nothing worse than being a Saluki forced to watch a Miner. Not anymore! Basketball fans - nirvana has arrived.
See: March Madness on the iPhone - We've arrived
Will we see layoffs at MySpace? Most likely. The social network's deal with Google ends in 15 months and Google will not be re-upping, predicts Richard Greenfield of Pali Research. If that happens, $300 million in yearly (annual) revenue that MySpace got from Google will disappear, leaving MySpace no choice but to cut back and slash costs. If the almighty Google can't monetize social networks, who can?
See: Will News Corp's MySpace start slashing jobs
When I was at the Dow Jones Innovation Wireless event this week, I caught up with Ammar Hanafi from Alloy Ventures. There's good news and bad news from this VC. The good news is that he's actively looking to invest in new opportunities. What's he looking for? IT infrastructure and Web-enabled consumer and corporate applications. He also thinks M&A activity will recover! A good thing for those looking for exits. Now, the bad news. The buyers aren't ready to pull the trigger just yet... Hanafi thinks the real activity won't happen until next year. Yikes! Let's hope he's wrong.
See:The exit market should pick up in 2010