Kid Mercury's Blog!

July 4th Live Performance

kidmercury — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 03:57:24 GMT

Regular readers are familiar with the preparation I went through to perform at my cousin's engagement party. You were with me as I struggled, training for that fateful day -- the day I would totally rock out in front of 250 people, forever changing their lives through the power of song.

Now, I offer to you the fruits of our efforts: a video of my live performance. I played "Vogue" (by Madonna), "Papa Kehte Hain" (classic Indian song), and "I Got Your Back Dog," a Kid Mercury original. I was originally going to play "Can't Be Undone," as that is I think the most appropriate song I have for a marriage, but I chickened out, as that song makes me a bit uncomfortable, even though I like it. Besides, I didn't think the audience could stomach a song they never heard before that was over five and a half minutes long. The short and simple pop stuff is far more appropriate, in my opinion.

Well my performance was solid, I think, with the exception of "I Got Your Back Dog," which I messed up a bit vocally. Basically the party host did not have the set up like he told me he would so I had to pretty much go without a microphone for my voice, which required me to really shout it out loud. This adversely affected my performance on the last song, doubly so because I find it to be a harder song to sing to begin with and because my voice was a bit tired after the first two songs. I should have had a glass of water between songs. But the audience seemed to genuinely like my performance, I got a lot of sincere compliments. And a bunch of people telling me to audition for American Idol, the idea of which almost made me puke. I'd only go on if I could wear my INVESTIGATE 9/11 shirt. LOL, that'd be something, wouldn't it.

Anyway, the highlight for me definitely was my niece being right out in front of me. I'm glad she was able to muster all her courage and take a break from crying all the time to be a part of the performance. I bought her a toy piano and a toy guitar for her birthday, hopefully next time she can come out and jam with me.

Here's the video.

I Can't Believe We're Still Talking About Whether Mass Media Will Be Free Or Not

kidmercury — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 03:40:50 GMT

Sorry for the late post, my flight got delayed, and then there were issues with baggage claim....ugh.

Anyway. While I was at the airport I was in the magazine store, happily reading magazines without paying for them while my flight was delayed. One magazine I used to read fairly regularly was Harvard Business Review, so I picked up a copy and began to read it. The cover was about the new trends in business.

Harvard Business Review is, like most of the print media you find in mainstream magazines, a complete waste. You're much better off finding smart bloggers in your niche. For Internet entrepreneurs, Fred's blog is a must read -- a billion times more educational, and at everyone's favorite price: free.

The biggest reason why Harvard Business Review sucks in comparison to smart blogs comes down to one word: honesty. And if there was another word, it'd be comments. The amazing thing about Fred's blog is the comments, it is like getting a 100 thought leaders to chime in on every single issue Fred raises.

This is worth remembering when we consider the issue of whether media will be free, which is an issue that has been a hot topic in the Internet startup blogosphere of late; you gotta check out what Fred is saying and what Mark Cuban is saying. Frankly, I can't believe we're still having the conversation, folks who think mass-produced media is going to be a paid product are living in ignorance of truths about economics and disruptive strategy. I've already outlined the new rules for selling media -- they are consistent with the economics of abundance (i.e. the world in which distribution costs and reproduction costs are zero) as well as disruptive strategy (i.e. how to make money by commoditizing something).

The only thing that makes me hesitate a bit is that Mark Cuban is a really smart guy and an entrepreneur I admire and find inspirational. He is also very media savvy and has already built successful digital media companies. So you have to take a guy like that seriously. Still, though, I'm looking for someone to refute the logic underlying the economics of abundance, as well as the logic behind how free media is disruptive, and thus is an investment opportunity -- not simply the destruction of value. Remember Clayton Christensen's Law of Conservation of Attractive Profits, which states that value is not destroyed, but rather moves to a new dimension in the value chain. While it is undoubtedly one of the most poorly named concepts in the history of intellectual matters, it is also one of the truest.

The song for the post is "Get in the Ring" by Guns n' Roses -- a song attacking old media, challenging them to get in the ring for a battle. (The song contains profanity, so perhaps not safe for work or children.)

The New Face of Work Culture

kidmercury — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 02:21:26 GMT

We've talked about the future of work before; see our previous post, "The Future of Work." In this post I wanted to highlight some examples from my business that I consider to be consistent with the future of work.

1. Business meetings at all hours. I've had numerous business meetings that start at 9 PM or even later and can run for several hours. These are face-to-face meetings with independent businesses; not just my co-founder.

2. Casual, but serious. The meetings are always over a meal. They are never in an office, probably because we don't have an office. We don't have an office because (1) we can't afford one and (2) we don't need one. There is no real dress code; I've shown up in sweatpants and even pajamas before. (Of course, if I thought this would be a problem, which I know it would be for some, I would dress to impress). The honesty is usually appreciated, and my attitude communicates that I am very serious about my business, even if my clothes suggest otherwise (although in reality my clothes also reflect my seriousness about my business, as I am interested in getting work done, not in being a supermodel).

3. Customer mentality, not boss mentality. I'm the co-founder of the company, so with the exception of my colleague who is an equal shareholder, I'm the boss. But I certainly don't think of myself that way. I treat everyone with a lot of respect and view each person as their own business, and I encourage them to think this way too. This encourages them to be accountable. Also, I want to be a helper to a thousand geniuses, not a genius with a thousand helpers. The whole "I'm a genius and all my employees are my helpers" is an old school mentality that will severely limit a company's growth potential, in my opinion. In many ways this was the biggest lesson I learned from my former employer. That company was founded by six guys who did not start out with much, but turned it into a very profitable company with over 500 employees and offices around the world. The CEO is a business genius, the smartest business person I've ever encountered and by a very wide margin. But the only reason that company is not a household name that has 5,000 or even 50,000 employees instead of 500 is because the CEO is very into command and control and has a "you don't think unless I tell you to think" type of approach. That is the best way to drive talented people out of your company, and is also the best way to ensure that your company reflects your strengths -- and your weaknesses. The "helper to a thousand geniuses" approach is more challenging, but I think it is absolutely essential to building a truly world class company.

4. Monetizing the network. Perhaps the most revolutionary aspect of the internal workings of my business is that since we work with independent contractors and encourage everyone to think of themselves as their own business, we have opportunities to refer independent contractors to each other. For instance, we have one video editor we work with, and another stock market trader we work with. We referred them to each other, so that the video editor could help the stock market trader make the videos he needs to sell his products/services. And as we introduce your own virtual currency and pay everyone with it, we'll soon be able to get a small piece of all such transactions, and will offer intermediation services to ensure safe and honest transactions for all involved. It's important to note that the virtual currency is not a gimmick we are using to try to rob people; instead it is the opposite: a way we can create greater economic efficiencies which in turn will result in greater wealth for all.

Well, I obviously think that the nature of work is set for an immense and radical change. Of course, as the adage goes, the more things change, the more they stay the same. And one thing that is not changing, and in fact is becoming more true, is that you have to satisfy your customers -- all of them. And so, the song for the post is "Keep the Customer Satisfied" by Simon and Garfunkel.

Happy 4th of July

kidmercury — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 11:09:33 GMT

LOL, you gotta love today, when Americans go out and celebrate their "independence"....LOL....apparently they haven't been to an airport recently. I just flew from Miami to Philadelphia, where I got patted down at the airport -- second time they went above and beyond the shoe removal nonsense and to a pat down. Completely unconstitutional, but so is everything else in "the land of the free," so not much of a surprise there.

I took my guitar with me, as I'm playing in front of an audience for the first time since 2005. When I got off the plane and opened up my guitar case, there was a note from the TSA stating that they opened my guitar case. The note also said that if they broke any locks that was simply too bad for me. Luckily they didn't break any of my locks, although this is a clear example of how government is now telling people what to do and is calling the shots. This is not liberty or government as public servants; it's government as central dictator. Of course the American people get what they deserve; it is their apathy, immaturity, and ignorance that are in the process of turning this once capitalist nation into a tyrannical nightmare of poverty without liberty. Anybody serious about being a responsible citizen needs to get educated and then get active; the two most important causes, in my opinion, are 9/11 truth and the Federal Reserve system. You solve those two problems you're going to solve a whole lot of problems very quickly. That's the good news.

Anyway. Today is also the party I've been preparing for, where I'll be playing my guitar and singing. Video to follow, unless I completely mess up. Actually you know me, I'll probably upload the video anyway. After all this is the Internet. Gotta keep it real on here!

Anyway, since today is 4th of July, it's a great time to look back on history and recall the days when America was a land of liberty and economic opportunity for all (or at least far more than it is today). And so, the song for the post is "Thank God for the Renegades" by Steve Vaus, a song I really think is awsome and inspirational. Alex Jones listeners will of course be all too familiar with the song, as it's part of his bumper music on his radio show. But it's the renegades who once made this country great, and as history is destined to repeat, it will surely be renegades who make this country great once again.

A Couple of Links For You

kidmercury — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 01:58:12 GMT

Apologies for missing yesterday's post, it's been a crazy couple days for me. The astrology of July is very fascinating, this is one of the most astrologically jam packed months we've had in a while, so expect chaos and a flood of potentially overwhelming emotions, particularly around the eclipses on July 7 and 21. Perhaps some of you with more shamanistic tendencies can feel it in your spirit. More on the astrology of this in a future post.

In the mean time, I wanted to share with you all some links that readers have been emailing me.

1. USMediaandIsrael.com. A site that illustrates how AIPAC, a lobbying organization representing Israel's interests, controls much of the American media -- the site focuses on its influence over The New York Times. American taxpayers basically work for Israel, when one considers how much influence the Israeli lobbying groups have, how much foreign aid goes to Israel, and how US military policy is decided. I'll conclude with my standard disclaimer, which is that I don't hate Israeli people, I don't hate Jewish people, I'm not an idiot and don't hate people based on race/nationality/religion. I do, however, think the Israeli government, like most governments, and lobbying organizations like AIPAC, are quite shameful, and we should not be afraid to say this. The American government is also extremely shameful and we should be shouting that out loud as well. You always have to speak truth to power, after all truth is the only real power. Only fools think otherwise.

2. ThisIsDiversity.com is one of those citizen journalism sites. For better or worse there are a bazillion sites like this. Ultimately I think the next evolution in citizen journalism is when bloggers filter the web and point to key news stories. Imagine, for instance, Techmeme -- but with commentary and filtering from your favorite technology blogger and his/her community of readers. I believe something like that is a part of the future of journalism.

As this post is about links people have asked me for, the song for the post is "Link" by Rabbit Joint. Admittedly, I don't really like the song.

Raising Money, Round II

kidmercury — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 01:57:29 GMT

We recently discussed the future of valuation, and how valuation, like economics, is currently a broken science desperately in need of new paradigms. As I noted in my post on Bowie bonds, I think debt-based fundraising is favorable, and perhaps is connected to how the credit and banking industries are disrupted and re-built.

The issue has been on my mind lately, as we've decided to try raising money for my trading site. I previously tried to raise money for "the big idea," which is to create the platform that produces niche communities like my trading site, and allows them to connect and users to create an identity across all these communities. The little effort we put into raising money for the big idea proved to be unsuccessful, which in hindsight is almost certainly a blessing in disguise. My busines partner, however, has convinced me that now is a good time to raise money, as we have the model figured out and working, can now spend wisely to scale. We know what we need to spend on, we both have experience managing and building teams, so we are confident that we can execute this properly, and that if we raise a relatively small amount of money (like $1 million) we will be able to take that very far. As we are profitable and cash flow positive, we can also start issuing a cash flow back to investors soon -- hopefully from day one, as that is our plan. This element, coupled with our microfinance approach and our virtual currency, leads me to feel confident we can raise money in this environment while still hedging our concerns about dollar devaluation, which regular KidMercuryBlog readers are all too familiar with.

While we thought about debt-based models for raising money, ultimately we could not come up with a compelling enough model at this point. (However, I remain keen on the idea, and hope that in the near future I will be able to work on creating some new debt-based investment models). So, we are selling equity of sorts, although with a new model that is more consistent with microfinance, a la Kiva and Kickstarter. More details to follow in the coming weeks when we launch this initiative.

But why is it that equity financing is more appealing than debt financing for so many? Aside from the fact that the potential upside is greater, there is the issue that equity has a better sales pitch. Buying bonds is boring. There's not much of a story, there's not supposed to be much fluctuation, and you're just supposed to get your fixed payments. Personally whatever makes me the most money is what I find exciting, so the safety that bonds can afford is what I find exhilarating (although I should note that in the current environment in the US, bonds are a terrible investment in my opinion...but in a stable economy they are a nice and safe way to slowly win the race).

So a big part of why we are going with an equity-based financing route is because the story is a bazillion times better, and thus is far more likely to succeed in getting us funding. While we hope to attract those who bring the spirit of capitalism and are seeking high returns (which we of course seek to give them), we'll likely get many if not more people who just want to feel like they own the community, or who want to be a part of decision-making, or who find our business model as revolutionary as we believe it is, and thus want to be a part of the excitement of the disruptive innovations we are focusing on (virtual currencies, free publishing, and microfinance). In microfinance, I think a lot of the investing motives are not profit-based, but rather are passion-based. Of course, I don't view it as an either/or scenario; I want whoever invests to have this be their highest yielding investment (from a percentage basis), and I want them to share and help build the passion that we have. If we can accomplish that, the fundraising mission will be an enormous success.

Of course, the key to selling anything, but particularly investments, is belief: we have to get investors to believe in us if we expect them to invest their money in us. Put simply, we have to give them something to believe in. And so, the song for the post is "Something to Believe In" by Poison.

Hyperinflation Nation

kidmercury — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 02:12:53 GMT

Phew, the work and stress never end, let me tell you. Somehow revenues are increasing yet stress is as well. How the f does that happen.

Anyway, I did have a post planned for today on the changing nature of work culture -- i.e. what my business meetings are like, versus what they are like for those operating out of a more traditional corporate mindset. But I don't have the time or energy for it today, so perhaps another time.

But of course you come to KidMercuryBlog for the truth that sets you free. So the least I can do is embed this video, Hyperinflation Nation, which is a short movie that explains the problem surrounding the US dollar. Watch and share. I'll be back with a full original article tomorrow.

Are We Headed Towards a Matriarchal Society?

kidmercury — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 22:33:08 GMT

One of the ideas floating around that I find interesting is that the 2012 consciousness shift will result in a social transformation from a patriarchy to a matriarchy. We've discussed these concepts before; see our previous post on the babe-ification of brands, as well as our post on how the Internet brings about the downfall of dudes.

Astrologically, the symbolism for this shift can be found in Pluto in Capricorn, from my perspective.

So what does a matriarchy look like? Well, to answer that question, we might want to take a look at the Mosuo culture of China, which is a matriarchy. Here are some observations:

1. Chicks are the head of the household. The kids belong to the mom. The dude is not expected to be involved.

2. Women each have their own home, while men tend to live together. I hope that's not true, that doesn't sound like much fun for me.

3. In terms of sexual relations, men are still the initators, although monogamy only tends to occur when the women fall in love, which seems to be decided by the women. The end result is that society is somewhat polyamorous. So dudes, this whole matriarchy thing might not be so bad after all! LOL, well I'm a bit skeptical of how that actually plays out, as I think it would spark feelings of jealousy and possessiveness in both men and women. But there are those who argue that polyamory is a more natural way of living for men and women alike. To each their own, I say.

4. Men tend to do physical labor and make big investment decisions. Women, though, have more social influence.

5. Feminine psychology will become more important than masculine psychology. In other words, persuasion and seduction beats intimidation and force. Hasn't it always been that way, though? I would think so -- although I think it will become increasingly apparent, and perhaps more consciously recognized.

Personally, I'm not so inclined to think of this in a man vs. woman context -- although that is the way it is often presented. Instead I think 2012 is largely about the reconciliation of complementary opposites; a restoration of balance, so to speak.

One really great video series I found on 2012 is this interview with Barbara Hand Clow, an excellent astrologer, most noted for her highly influential book on Chiron.

The song for the post is "No Man's Woman" by Sinead O'Connor, which is the only "girl power" song I like, normally I prefer to make fun of that type of stuff. But Sinead has the spirit of a truther, so I have to give her mad props. And she is an amazing singer and musician. And this is a top tune.

Sinead O'Connor - No Man's Woman (2000)

Mid-Year Review

kidmercury — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 19:36:57 GMT

Since we're about at the end of June, I figure it's time for a mid-year review.

1. My business is growing, as we've started hiring some independent contractors, and have enough money where I could afford moving to an apartment I wouldn't be embarrassed to show people, the first time I've been able to say that since 2006. That's great. The bad news, or should I say the frustrating/challenging news, is that there is still the feeling it could fall apart at any moment. For instance now that we are increasing expenses, we run into the potential "death by growth" scenario, in which we make a few wrong bets and thus take steps backwards in terms of profitability and growth. Is that what will happen? Hope not, nor do I think it will -- but of course, only time will tell.

2. In terms of my personal life, I have become a bit more social. June was a fun month, the most fun I've had in a long time, even if it ended somewhat tumultuously. Of course it's hard to enjoy much of anything when we're still in business survival mode. The good news, I suppose, is that I've been in survival mode for a long time -- possibly since birth, depending on how you count things. So at least I've gotten use to the stress of it all.

3. Ten original songs written, including the cult hit "Proud to be a Conspiracy Theorist," widely regarded as the best song ever dedicated to the venture capital community. That's fun. Too bad I have less and less time for songwriting; I've got some songs backed up, haven't found the time to complete them. But I want to add more songs to my happy songs playlist, so that's probably what I'll focus on from a songwriting perspective for the rest of the year.

4. Regarding trading, I'm up a little over 8% thus far on the year, thanks primarily to the recent sharp drop in the US dollar/Canadian dollar exchange rate. I think the second half of 2009 is when we're really going to start to see the dollar fall. The only question in my opinion is at what point do higher prices result in civil unrest? And how will that civil unrest play out? Questions we'll have answers to in 2010, in my opinion.

Going forward, I do have my Saturn Return become exact in October of 2009, as I noted previously. So I'll be working to manifest that as a time when I reach career stability. On a collective level, the story is still the economic/dollar crisis, as well as the big power grab the New World Order is making as we approach 2012.

Because this post is about looking back on the year thus far, and because I'm the world's biggest Oasis fan, the song for the post is "Don't Look Back in Anger." This is from some DVD of a live Oasis concert.

Distraction Jackson

kidmercury — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 22:52:27 GMT

Yesterday and today gave us one loud and overwhelming reminder of how mainstream media controls our society.

Believe it or not, Michael Jackson's death is not the only thing that's happened in our world of late. For instance, there is also a bill in the US Congress regarding cap and trade that is being voted upon.

If this bill is passed, it will lead to a new set of expenses upon US businesses, setting them back thousands of dollars.

And remember, the need to track environmental sustainability is completely bogus. See our archive on global warming.

Not much talk about that though.

Bummer.

The good news is that this is not sustainable. Being taxed and robbed gives you material poverty -- which of course provides a great foundation for spiritual riches. And once society refinds its spirit, you'll witness a cultural revolution.

Alex was making fun of Michael Jackson on his show today for his boyish and androgynous nature, which I did not appreciate as a genuine Michael fan, although I must admit it was hilarious and had me laughing out loud. But the two Michael songs I think all conspiracists can appreciate are "We Are the World" and "Heal the World" -- for the defining attributes of a conspiracist are the willingness to accept one's responsibility to humanity and the burning desire to heal the world of the lies that have imprisoned us.

Below is a video from Michael Jackson's 1993 Super Bowl performance, which starts with "We Are the World," but then segues to "Heal the World."

SocialGo and the Importance of Specialization for Internet Startups

kidmercury — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 22:15:31 GMT

Social Go is a company that lets you roll your own social network, much like Ning (see our previous discussions of Ning). I also consider myself to be in the business of creating niche communities, so these companies are competitors in a way (but I don't really view them that way, as I don't think much about competition, save for how it might be affecting larger trends and what APIs they may have that I can integrate into my web sites).

I've become increasingly skeptical of companies like SocialGo, primarily because the vast majority of these niche social networking companies are infrastructure players -- meaning they focus on hiring networking people, and minimizing bandwidth costs. Basically, the seek to amortize their infrastructure costs across all the niche social networks they host.

This is great, although I think the real opportunity is in knowing how to build the right community site for the customer. Most people cannot do this, even if you create a slick interface that makes it easy for them to build the site they want. The reason is that building a community requires more than just web knowledge; rather it requires cultural knowledge, like how to create the proper videos, how to deal with community members, what type of moderation policy you should have, how to leverage crowdsourcing, etc.

To their credit, SocialGo, has rolled out a concierge service in which they build a custom social network for you (rather than just giving you the tools to do so on your own), which I think is a great idea. I'm probably going to borrow some elements from their sales pitch, because I was wondering how best to create the right sales pitch for this type of service myself.

But in my opinion this introduces another problem for SocialGo, which is the same problem I think a lot of businesses you hear about on TechCrunch have: they are in too many different types of businesses. They make social networking applications, so they are a product development company. They customize things for customers, so they are a customer relations business. And they host all the technology, so they are an infrastructure business.

The challenge for Internet startups in today's environment, as we've discussed before, is to unbundle: instead of being an infrastructure company, and a product creation company, and a customer relations company, you should be one of those. Then try to establish partnerships with other companies to handle the other needs you may have.

Certainly, the path that I am talking about is more challenging, and is one in which you will not be able to buy your success, but rather will have to earn it by creating new processes and cultivating new efficiencies. Of course, this is precisely the stuff that great, game-changing disruptive innovations are made out of.

Because this post is in a way about the importance of focus/specialization for today's Internet startups, the song for the post is "Specialization" by Marilyn Monroe.

Uh Oh, Too May People From My Personal Life Read This

kidmercury — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 16:17:57 GMT

Well in general I don't talk about Kid Mercury to the vast majority of my friends and family, because most of them don't understand or appreciate kook stuff, and since I stopped being a live musician there was not much of need to talk about it. But some of you have found this.

This is for those people.

Remember that I try to write as though no one is reading, I think that produces the most interesting content that will help me become more influential as well. So don't be offended by anything here, it is more like me talking to myself rather than talking to you. You of all people should know this as you actually know me know me, and so you know I'm a cool and good person with a rational mind. And realistically speaking, I'm probably one of the best friends you have. Like I'm a real friend, like when all hell breaks loose I'm there. I bought a year's worth of storable food not because I think I will need that much but because I know for sure your dumb ass doesn't have anything and since I'm a real friend I'll help your dumb ass out (although you can be sure that when we're sitting in my apartment with the doors barricaded while people are rioting because there's no food I will first make fun of you for doubting me before I cook a nice meal of rations for you....and you know I got the good stuff that's actually better for you than the crap you get at the grocery store, it'll be like an upgrade for your dumb ass).

So, to the people from my personal life that have found this blog, please bear that in mind when you read this. So don't try and get all offended and then guilt trip me for it, that will definitely not work I will just toss it back at you and call you a dumb ass. Damn.

Since this post is for my friends and family, here is probably my favorite song about friendship: "You've Got a Friend" by Carole King.

WTF Is Going On In Iran?

kidmercury — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 23:22:26 GMT

1. There was an election between Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Mir-Hossein Mousavi.

2. Ahmadinejad won. Or at least that's what some people say. Riots have started due to accusations over election fraud.

Now this is where it gets interesting. The conspiratorial view, meaning the view advocated by people who live in reality and understand that 9/11 was an inside job and that the CIA killed JFK (and RFK), is that the riots are staged by foreign intelligence agencies, particularly Mossad and CIA, as a way of overthrowing Ahmadinejad's government.

Note that no one is saying Ahmadinejad is a cool person. Instead what is being said is that the British/Israel/US empire does not want Ahmadinejad in office in Iran.

I highly recommend this article from the Corbett Report to understand this argument in greater detail.

Personally, I'm inclined to think there is something going on here, and that the conspiracists are, as usual, correct. Note that the CIA has already overthrown foreign governments before -- even the Iranian one. In 1953, the CIA launched Operation AJAX, which was a successful coup in Iran, cultivated by fueling internal riots and creating a media frenzy.

Some things never change.

And because some things never change, and because history repeats itself until we learn from it, the song for the post is "History Repeats" by We Are Scientists. This is the acoustic version.

Wall Street vs. The Creative Class

kidmercury — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 23:53:02 GMT

On one hand of the Internet business world, we have Wall St. finance: the whole system of getting companies from startup to IPO. Private equity funds get money from a variety of sources, virtually all of them connected to the military-industrial complex (which itself is ultimately a weapon of the international banking cartel); investment banks take them to Wall St; the major propaganda outlets that the central bankers own tell the people to buy. This system has brought us some impressive stuff, like Amazon, Ebay, and the granddaddy of them all, Google.

Of course, it's also brought us the dot com bubble, and a whole lot of companies with no business models since then.

On the other hand, though, we have the emergence of businesses that are entirely different. We have bedroom rock stars like Kid Mercury earning money just by recording songs on a cheap camera and uploading them to the web. We have designers on Etsy able to setup their own small business. And we have a thriving ecosystem of Internet professionals who are becoming increasingly specialized: search engine marketers, organic search engine marketers, organic search engine marketers specializing in the financial sector, etc.

These folks are the Creative Class. They will increasingly find themselves at odds with Wall Street.

But don't the Creative Class need Wall Street's financial power, you ask?

Increasingly, I think the answer is no. Craigslist is the leading example here; international, very popular, profitable. And independent of the Wall Street system. Wikipedia is also somewhat in this category, as it commoditizes the encyclopedia. So these are some examples in which the Creative Class has created its own infrastructure assets without the assistance of Wall Street.

But what about businesses like MySpace, Etsy, Zazzle, etc that create the underlying infrastructure that the Creative Class can build their business on top of? In other words, musicians can have an easier time of marketing and monetizing their music because MySpace, a product of the Wall Street system, has assumed the infrastructure cost. Doesn't that imply that the Creative Class needs Wall Street -- that they are synergistic, complementary, like yin and yang?

We are closing in on the real tipping point -- the point where the edge owns the core. "Edge owning core" is a key concept, one we've referred to many times; it basically means the Creative Class owns the platform upon which they are resting. In other words, the application developers and community members own Facebook; the designers own Etsy; the designers own Zazzle.

For instance, imagine if Wikipedia were to introduce a business model. Suppose they want to put a small banner at the top of each page. They could probably earn a lot of money for doing this.

If they did this, though, they would likely need to find a way to compensate contributors -- or at least compensate some contributors.

So who would make these decisions? In part they would likely be automated, with an algorithm that is publicly decided upon. In other words, this is group decision making that stems from the bottom up -- not command and control decision making that stems from the top down.

This is the fun and exciting part of the transformation that is going on in the world today. When the edge owns the core, the Creative Class will have defeated Wall Street.

The renaissance can then begin.

Here's "Revolution" by the Beatles.

TuneCore is Freakin' Genius in So Many Ways

kidmercury — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 23:24:44 GMT

I've talked about them before, but I think they're so good, that I have to mention them again.

TuneCore.

Basically what they are doing is sending power to the edges -- decentralizing it. They are helping unite all the web services out there that musicians need and putting it into one simple, easy to use package -- thus enabling small organizations (musicians, rock bands, etc) to easily leverage all the services that exist out there, thanks to the Internet. And TuneCore is doing a very good job of it.

They are a bedroom rock star's dream come true: record your music from your bedroom, upload it to TuneCore, and it'll be in all the major digital stores. And now, with select albums (but not all albums), they'll even sell them through Amazon.com as a physical CD. The CD is produced on demand for each order sold.

Interestingly, TuneCore selected my song for Eminem to be enabled as sale by CD. They probably did this because my song for Eminem is my top-selling song -- information they have access to, since they distribute my songs and pay me (and since they hold earnings for me, distribute earnings to me, and allow me to purchase new services with my earnings, they are a candidate for the pending world-changing disruption in the banking sector).

But why is my song for Eminem my top-selling song? Most likely because a lot of people are searching for Eminem (like a lot lot, as he is very popular and has a new album out), and because my song for him is an attempt at ranking in the search engine for queries for his name or new album, Relapse. So search engine marketing has gotten me enough sales to get additional visibility via Amazon's store. So basically, TuneCore and possibly Amazon are going to have spam problems -- always the threat for infrastructure players on the web. The solution here is for TuneCore and Amazon to create an ecosystem of remixers -- people who can remix what they've aggregated into offerings for niche communities. Amazon lets affiliates create their own stores with products they like; Amazon also has "guides" that let people make collections of books they like. It seems likely to me that as TuneCore grows it will find it advantageous to embrace similar strategies, or work with someone who does.

One of the reasons I love TuneCore so much is because it empowers musicians; it is the ultimate example of a company that is helping the underdog take down The Man. TuneCore is a part of the coming renaissance in music, in which musicians are increasingly set free of the propaganda fronts that rule their world. They are helping musicians take the power back.

And so, the song for the post is "Take the Power Back" by Rage Against the Machine.