VCs are seeking Vietnamese Web 2.0 StartupsVCs are seeking Vietnamese Web 2.0 StartupsVietnam Web 2.0 services are sprouting up fast Articles
Sex and Violence to Draw Traffic to the Website of the Vietnam Study Promo
2008-05-26 20:30:00 Dantri.com.vn is one of the top 4 news portals in Vietnam with sensational news coverage style. Celebrity gossip and trivia could draw attention of teens and office workers quickly. A recent article in automotive section could scare old generation people with some high rated violent photos that you can see in horror films. A Vietnamese version of Pamela Anderson played the key role attacking the patient that parents should tell their kids to stay away from those kinds of websites. Ironically the website is belong to the Vietnam Study Promotion Society (newspapers and magazines must be managed under State owned agencies or Government licensed associations/societies). Actually the website is run by a VC backed company trying to drive readers to its new portal. Using tabloid tactics could be a good choice for digital content companies but much abuse could destroy their image fast. More About: Website , Traffic , Violence
Yahoo Vietnam Launches TV Ad Campaign, Can Old Way Help?
2008-05-05 20:22:00 Yahoo SEA just launched new services specifically for Vietnam ese Internet users such as Yahoo! 360plus blogging, Yahoo!Music. Along with the appointment of Vietnam General Manager, Yahoo Vietnam runs a TV ad campaign with TVC storyline from a Vietnamese fairy tale. It is a cool TVC by traditional creative production standards, but can it help Yahoo gain a fair search market share in a Google dominated territory. I think spending ad dollars on TV is a waste of money by Yahoo since Vietnamese TV audience is mainly old generation people and light Internet users. It seems that Yahoo still follows the pattern used in the US ten years ago. Vietnam is an emerging market but the local Internet generation has much exposure to viral marketing, digital rumors, peer reviews so that Yahoo's top down approach should not work here. (While I writing this post, Yahoo's share fall sharply after Microsoft backs away from takeover bid, adds much pressure on Yahoo management) More About: Yahoo , Campaign
Alexa Rankings System changes and Vietnamese Publishers Rethink Web Metrics
2008-04-19 11:00:00 Web metrics provider Alexa just announced the New Alexa Rankings with new algorithms that pushed most of Vietnamese websites' ranking down overnight. In fact it is a good news for marketers in Vietnam since Vietnamese online publishers used to set Alexa ranking as a norm of traffic measurement and monetization. Last year a news portal in Vietnam even posted a headline saying VnExpress in Global Top 100 Websites and near the line of CNN.com and BBC Newsline. Ironically it said Alexa was the only independent and objective ranking system of web metrics worldwide. Actually many international marketers and advertisers had left Alexa for other web metrics/analytics service such as comScore, Hitwise, Compete and Nielsen//NetRatings. Among the fierce competition, comScore had became the leader with reports can send Google' shares down significantly.Since online advertising is emerging as an important piece of media and branding communication strategy of marketers in Vietnam, the need for... More About: System , Publishers , Metrics
Search in Vietnamese with Xalo, but Can it Go Fast?
2008-04-12 10:44:00 Vinaseek, the search engine still alive from the first wave of Vietnamese Internet just returned with new brand Xalo (means highway). With new UI and features, it is not easy to see something associated with the old Vinaseek. You can use Xalo to search web, news, blog, forum. In fact Xalo is a white label product licensed from Norway's Fast Search . As an enterprise search platform users would see the results much different from Google's user friendly ones. I do not know why Tinhvan had taken so long to localise this search engine while Singapore's SPH Search had gone faster with Rednano search service. Again I still doubt the future of Xalo as in my earlier post on Vinaseek and 2008 predictions. Of course Tinhvan could provide financing for Xalo at startup stage but with less much money spending pressure than other young startups how can Xalo produce innovative products and win users' minds?
IDG Ventures Rebranding, More Money to Vietnam
2008-04-07 20:48:00 After IDG Ventures Boston broke off from its affiliation with IDG Ventures network and rebranded to Flybridge Capital Partners, IDG Chairman Pat McGovern decided to restructure the global VC network with central unit based in Boston. Former Managing Partner of Prevail Capital Steve Kahn will lead this newly created IDG Capital with main work of raising money for funds in Vietnam , India and Korea.Quote from VentureWire:IDG is typically the sole backer of its venture affiliatesÂ’ first funds. If the fund generates suitable returns to warrant a successor fund, IDGÂ’s strategy is to open up that second fund to limited partners, while committing 10% to 25% of the capital. The company set up a $100 million fund in Vietnam in 2004, a $150 million India fund in 2006, and a $100 million Korea fund late last yearÂ…McGovern expects IDG to establish its first fund in Eastern Europe this fall, with $150 million and an office in Warsaw; a second early-stage Vietnam fund next year with about $2... More About: Money
Social Networking Services for Vietnamese Women
2008-04-04 06:34:00 One day after Yahoo announced its Shine portal for women, in Vietnam the web 2.0 startup Vinalive also stirs the social networking competition with its PhunuNet targeting dynamic Vietnamese women. It seems that PhunuNet is following the simple but successful model of iVillage.While social networking sites are in a fierce competition seeking users and monetization with such names as Tamtay, Yobanbe, Cyworld, Zoomban etc., targeting women segment is a smart way to differentiate. PhunuNet offers useful content for women’s interests, including Love & Sex, Fashion & Beauty, Health, Lifestyle, Career & Work, Entertainment & Celebrities, Travel, Cooking, Pregnancy & Babycare, Brides, Horoscope etc. It also offers social Q&A, video sharing, groups, events and blogging tools. Not just an iVillage clone, PhunuNet has good localization approach tailored to the taste of Vietnamese women. In fact PhunuNet currently looks like a content portal rather than a web 2.0 serv... More About: Social , Women , Services , Social Networking , Networking
April Fools' Day with StartupWear Pitch
2008-04-01 20:24:00 Following the VC Wear guys, a team just set up a StartupWear website with an amusing pitch. Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â | View | Upload your own More About: April , Pitch
Should Shareholders Love FPT's CEO Spending Time Blogging?
2008-03-15 09:17:00 I just came across a newly setup blog of Truong Gia Binh, CEO of FPT. The blog is being run on a bad platform without RSS, trackback features. It seems that Binh did not have strategy and positioning for his blog. He is trying to communicate that he is still young in mind to lead FPT into a new era. But as the CEO of the largest ICT company listed on Vietnam Stock Market he should be careful since blogging is high risk for CEO. Almost top CEOs in the world avoid blogging as it is not easy to control the outcome and time consuming to answer so many comments (some unfavour comments could make them unhappy). A successful CEO blogger is Jonathan Schwartz of Sun Microsystems, his blog was planned in detail before making public. With clear strategy he could add value to the communication with staff, shareholders, clients, developers. In my post on FPT 2.0 I did not mention CEO blogging for risky reason, but if FPT management wants to join blogosphere they should create a position of CBO (... More About: Love , Shareholders , Time , Blogging , Spending
Weekend VC Pitch Humor
2008-03-09 11:29:00 Some guys just put a website selling T-shirts to VCs called VC Wear, with a cool and funny pitch just enjoy over the weekend. Don't take it seriously.                                                                                                                                                                                                               | View | Upload your own More About: Humor , Weekend , Pitch
Why Da Lat could not be a Silicon Valley Clone
2008-02-15 20:22:00 A romantic tourist destination in the Western Highlands of Vietnam dubbed City of Love, Da Lat targets to be a sort of Silicon Valley clone in Vietnam in the next decade. Some attributes being promoted by local authority: nice weather around the year, good telecom and networking infrastructure, supporting local authority agencies, local human resource development through intensive education and training. Those conditions are just OK for event entertainment business but far from Silicon Valley clone business environment. There is no top local university in Da Lat, VC investment is a new concept in Vietnam, no VC tax incentive policy yet, lacks of entrepreneurial spirit. Young local talents either choose Hanoi or HCM City for career destination rather than Da Lat. Young entrepreneurs and startup teams tend to find like minded guys that mainly located in Hanoi and HCM City. It is a mission impossible to drive those guys away from those two centers except some top technocrats lead the w... More About: Clone |
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