Erik Sundelöf

entrepreneur, thinker and Swede

Microsoft buys Yahoo… Good deal? Hmm.
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A lot of people have asked me what I think of the deal and what the benefits are. Simply put I think it is a hard one to see what the real benefits are and what the real synergy effects are in the “merge” of the companies. I would say there isn’t a slam dunk in any way. The reasons for the merge to me without any investigations nor deeper analysis is for Microsoft to get access to better search technology and a better online advertising solution as well as market shares in these both sectors. This could potentially become a bigger competitor to Google which is good news, but still we then have only two major players in the field which means that the barriers of entry is huge for anyone to entry. Especially since the business model of search these days is more or less exclusively textual advertising based on the indexed pages.

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Reflections on a Saturday night
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Life is a funny thing. You never know where it will take you. I realized something. I am over something. Something I thought it would take me a long time to come over and it did…

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The year of 2007
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Right now I am sitting and enjoying an afternoon coffee listening to Annie Lennox – “Into the West”, the end song of the third and last part of Lord of the Rings. I cannot help thinking back on a year that has changed my life tremendously. A friend asked me how my year has been so far and I tried to summarize it, but probably did not make it justice. I think it is hard to summarize the year in any fair manner as there are so many episodes, events and meetings that has built it up. The year of 2007 is one of the most impactful years in my life. I have learned a lot of myself – both strengths and weaknesses.

This year has very much been woven up by seeking answers – either in business or personal as for what I wanted to do. The summer as probably one of the most experiences of my life time. It was a big roller-coaster ride in any possible way. Very intense indeed.

I remember one turning point. I think it was late August and I was taking a long walk listening to music and ended up sitting at a bench at Stanford Campus looking at the stars. Thinking of what made sense to do. Or how to go there. I made the decision there under the stars. Since then I have stayed honest to that decision. What the decision was I will leave out but I believe I made the right choice. Time will tell.

After a few days with less intense work at the end of 2007, I have gotten some perspective over things and I believe I know how I would like to take on this new year and what I would like to do.

I look with anticipation and comfort to the year of 2008.

“What can you see
On the horizon?
Why do the white gulls call?
Across the sea
A pale moon rises
The ships have come to carry you home”

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The need for an open, unedited, unmediated forum…
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Around the world. Constantly. Something is happening. The snap of the moment. A flash. A picture. A video. A short text message. A reflection. In the flash of the moment this might seem insignificant. Non-important. Random. Often these reflections, perspectives, observations are the first evidence of an event. It is the whisper of the wind that something is on the horizon. Something is bubbling up. It is the glow before the fire starts… Something is about to happen or is happening as we speak. The importance may vary, but it’s the breaking moment of the event… Snap, snap…

It is the need for the open forum. The personal angles of any event. The human side of the event. The community.

It is the breaking events that appear all the time around us. All around the world. The impact varies, but the characteristics are the same. They matter to all of us. They influence us all.

These events are built up by people. The individuals. The participants. The observers. The influencers. The enforcers. The average Joes or Janes. The politicians. The police men. The demonstrants. They all play their part of the event. They weave the plot. They are the plot.

This is the need for the open forum. The people. The community around the event.

All these elements should be put together into the unique event experience. The user should be given all perspectives. The user should be given all the news stories. The user should be given all the blogs and opinions. The user should be given all the images. The user should be given all the videos. The user should be given all the relevant content of the event….

The users should be given the possibility – by the means that are available to them – to bring forward their message, shared globally for the benefit of mankind.

But… For any event…

The forum will need you – yes you – to tell your side of the event, whether it is a political event, business event, sports event. Yes, any event. The forum will need you to give your perspective. It will need you to share your feelings and emotions. It can be as short as a sentence. It can be the cellphone picture. The cellphone video. An article. A perspective. Yes, anything. It all weaves the mosaic of angles of the event. The human side of the event. It gives the “right” perspective.

Right now Pakistan is being impacted in every possible way by the death of Benazir Bhutto. Regardless of your political agenda you will have an opinion, an emotion or just a comment. This is why this forum is needed where you can express yourself – unedited, unmediated and in context of an event.

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