Kitmondo.com

Skype's Out

by Richard

On the subject of Skype, I'm having second thoughts about its suitability as our principal (only!) telephone system.

Because so many of our advertisers are overseas the idea of using a combination of VOIP, SkypeOut and SkypeIn is very attractive from a cost and convenience POV. Unfortunately I'm coming to the conclusion that SkypeOut isn't stable enough to be used as a full-time telecom solution.

Very unscientifically, I'd say that 20-30% of SkypeOut calls suffer from extremely poor quality and 5-10% drop out altogether. Obviously that's a non-starter in a business environment. Shame.

Presumably the difficulty lies at the point where Skype's VOIP meets the traditional landline or mobile networks and one wonders how much resistance Skype faces from the telcos in trying to sort the problem out. Plenty I suspect.

I'll be back if they crack it, but In the meantime I'm shopping for phone systems.

Billion dollar typo

by Richard

From CNET's report of Skype’s presentation at the Always On conference :

"Skype's annual revenue has not been disclosed, but analysts suggest that it could be in the $6 billion to $10 billion range”

Blimey….

Depending on which end of the range you look at that revenue is equal to or more than Google (market cap $79bn), ebay (market cap $56bn) and yahoo (market cap $46bn).

The article also speculates on Skype's value:

"The investment banker said that Skype wouldn't even consider being acquired for less than $1bn".

Hmmm... looks like a good deal. I wonder if my bank would stump up a quick $bn if I asked them nicely?

Maybe, just maybe, that revenue figure should read millions not billions...

To FREE or not to...

By Richard

Much talk about FREE as a business model recently, especially within the classifieds community. Entrepreneurs and corporate execs alike are scratching chins and figuring out how they can offer free advertising to their customers (GOOD IDEA) without losing their revenue stream (BAD IDEA). It’s as if everyone woke in unison one night, cold with sweat and screaming CRAIGSLIST……

In fact, kitmondo’s success depends upon providing a solution to this dilemna. We are targeting a market with plenty of advertising inventory (listings) but one that has a natural resistance to unproven marketing platforms. How do we attract sufficient advertising to build the listing mass required to create value for users/buyers?

We think the answer is simple and familiar yet surprisingly undeveloped in the classifieds industry. It’s called pay-for-performance. 

I guess this blog will be a record of how successfully we convert the above statement into a great business….

Richard's Album of the Week

Each week, one of us at kitmondo towers will choose their Album of the Week. It can be a new release or a blast from the past. All that matters is that a) in their opinion it is worthy of a position in the "Our Beats" column and b) they are prepared to be potentially mocked and abused by everyone else.

So, I'll be the first to stick my head above the parapet with...

Interpol's Antics, which is on seriously heavy rotation on my gramophone. Classic US Indie. Rocks.

Team ebay

Surprised (shocked even?) to read in the NY Times article "What ebay could learn from Craigslist" that ebay has 8,800 employees. The contrast made with Craiglist's 18 employees is stark.

As a business that kneels at the alter of small is the new big, it's a stretch for us to understand why a company with no physical inventory, content predominantly generated by its own users and effectively no public facing employees can possibly need so many people. 

Admittedly, with estimated 2005 revenues of $4.4bn, ebay enjoys a very respectable revenue per employee of $500k, but 8,800 seems a heck of lot of people and begs the obvious question: what on earth do they all do?

Richard

Mockingbird wish me luck...

11:12am Tuesday 26th July.....started a blog.