Oracle, Oracle

Oracle has displayed a winning streak during the toughest economy America has seen in 70 years. Oracle has been in the consolidation business for a few years now. The continued execution of that effort over the past year has been remarkable.

You could argue Amazon was another success story of the season in that Amazon was also seen bucking the trend. But those high spirits have not been true for tech companies across the board. So it has not been a tech industry thing. Microsoft was seen engaging in major layoffs like companies facing tough times are wont to do.

Larry Ellison's combination of the visionary and the street fighter was never better at display than during these consolidation fights, the most visible of it was when he gulped down PeopleSoft a few years ago.

Larry Ellison is still very much hungry. His move to buy Sun was very surprising to me. But then is best friend Steve Jobs does both hardware and software, does he not? I think the challenge for Larry is to see if he can offer data centers that are the size of servers.

I watch both Google and Oracle when it comes to the cloud computing space. Larry is on record being skeptical of the very phrase "cloud computing," but it is because he has been doing cloud computing all along. Now they have a term for it.

I think Oracle is well positioned for the impending era. Larry has always wanted to take over Microsoft as the largest software company in the world. I get the impression he has been preparing for that for the last few years in a way he never got to in the 1990s. Now all he needs is a paradigm shift away from the PC.



Larry Ellison
Cisco's Big Dreams: A Clash Of Titans?

In The News

Justice Department: Oracle, Sun Not Getting Hitched Just Yet Seeking Alpha

Sun Calls DOJ Slowdown of Oracle Deal Simply an Irritation eWeek

Oracle Shares Rise On Better-Than-Expected Results Wall Street Journal

Tech stocks get behind Oracle to close with gains MarketWatch

Catz Says Oracle Client Interest in Software Reviving Bloomberg
Oracle Terminates Virtual Iron Reseller Partners ChannelWeb

Oracle's First Global Virtual Partner Kickoff Will Provide ... Virtual Edge

Securities Suit Against Oracle and CEO Ellison Is Dismissed Wall Street Journal
Hard Times Didn't Stop Oracle's Buying Spree New York Times Oracle, the software giant, made no high-profile purchases in fiscal 2009, but it still managed to quietly spend $1.2 billion buying other companies and assets during the period ...... Oracle reduced its number of United States-based employees while bolstering its ranks abroad
Oracle kept buying in the billions during a troubled year MarketWatch continued apace with its broader mission of expanding its offerings well beyond database software through acquisitions........ Oracle spent $9.4 billion on acquisitions in fiscal 2008 .... Oracle's headcount rose by only 1,767, to 86,000 ....... Oracle reported having 28,000 employees in the U.S.

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July: Netizen Blog Carnival Month

1. Internet For The Billions (July 1)
   
2. Wimax (July 4)
   
3. Cheap Laptops (July 7)
   
4. Microfinance (July 10)
   
5. Venture Capital (July 13)
   
6. Google (July 16)
   
7. Google Wave (July 19)
   
8. Android (July 22)
   
9. Entrepreneurship (July 25)
   
10. Global Poverty (July 28)

So I Have Decided To Launch A Blog Carnival

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Bye Bye Geocities

Fred Wilson
This Reminds Me Of The Web 3.0 Definition Fight
I Did My Part
Google Wave API Google Group: Got To Undo The Ban On Me
Google Wave Protest
Google Wave API Google Group: Stalinist Mindset
My Twitter Suspension Lifted
Can Tweet Google, Can't Tweet Twitter
Netizen Is No Spam Blog
Google: Tweet Me Baby One More Time
I Talked To Google Through Twitter And It Worked Like Magic
NY Tech MeetUp Mailing List Web 5.0 Controversy
Web 5.0 Is Da Bomb
Competing For the Web 3.0 Definition
Conceptually Diligent: Web 5.0 Is Repackaging Hello
Defining Web 4.0

In The News

No rush to 3GS for gamers CNet
Bloomberg: Information for the people will improve government
Red Hat goes to the movies
Walkman vs. iPod
OLPC operating system free on a stick
Google move paves way for Firefox on Android
Ch-ch-ch-changes: A visual history of Firefox
Report: Microsoft to cut Razorfish loose
Why Oracle will continue to win
Get social now!
An FM transmitter for your iPod that actually works
What the iPhone teaches us about cloud adoption
Reading machine to snoop on Web
Delta 4 rocket boosts weather satellite into orbit
Report: Sony considers adding phone to PSP
Is Apple's Mac Mini a MacBook inside?
DOJ extends investigation into Oracle-Sun deal
YouTube hoops star accepts Shaq's Twitter challenge
Michael Jackson's death roils Wikipedia
What PC makers are paying for Windows 7
Google or Bing? Where's the pic of Sanford's lover?
E-mails indicate EPA suppressed report skeptical of global warming

U.S. Companies Seek New Tax Havens BusinessWeek
U.S. Companies See Their Offshore Mistake
Academic's Labor Helps Fight H-1B Visas
Archive: Are More Foreign Nurses Needed?
Summer Stock Doldrums May Be Here to Stay

• Biogen confirms new infection linked to Tysabri
• Porsche rejects VW offer
• VW, Ford tops in vehicle quality survey
• Oil rises to near $70 on another attack in Nigeria
• China: A Look Back at a Missed Opportunity
• Biotech: Generics Win a Round
• Blog: House Passes Carbon Cap-and-Trade Bill
• Financial Regulation: Industry Objections Increasing
• Jackson Death Boosts Music Vendor Sales
• More Boeing 787 Woes as Qantas Drops Order
• Muted Response on Svanberg's BP Post
• Settling Michael Jackson's Estate May Be a Thriller
• Big Software Plans for Amazon's Kindle?
• After Madoff: Are We Safer?
• Bank Stocks: The Smartest Plays Now

Stocks Mixed in Early Trading
Marcial: Achillion, a Promising Biotech
Microsoft's Hohm: First in the Azure Cloud
Venture Capital Doesn't Need Government Help
Are Smarter Gadgets Good for the Planet?
IT Firms Increase Focus on India's Media
A Silver Lining for India's Housing Market
DLF, Unitech to Revive Mumbai Deals
A return to the Family Doctor
EU Moots Social Network Privacy Rules
U.K. Officials at Odds over Debt
Daimler Fights for Its Future
Malaysia's Air Asia Sponsors NFL's Oakland Raiders

• Reports: Russia, Azerbaijan agree new gas deal
• EU, phone makers agree on new single charger
• FDA weighs options to reduce painkiller overdoses
• Shanghai holds 9 linked with building collapse
• Foreign broadcasters walk a fine line in Iran
• Saudi anti-smoking campaign targets young grooms
• China central bank chief says economy on the mend
  
• Central bankers urge move from stimulus to reform
• Porsche rejects VW offer
• ECB to keep rates unchanged after massive auction
• Takeda confirms delay in diabetes drug approval
• Vodafone shares rise on reported T-Mobile UK bid
• Rising fuel prices to hurt Royal Caribbean
• Madoff due in court for sentencing today

Michael Jackson: Death of a Brilliant, Troubling Icon Time
Cheating 2.0: New Mobile Apps Make Adultery Easier
Top 10 Crooked CEOs

• Madoff Gets Maximum: 150 Years for Fraud
• Supreme Court Overturns Sotomayor Ruling
• FDA Weighs Reduction of Painkiller ODs
• Iran Recount: A Bid to Placate Opposition?
• Janet Jackson Has Emotional Cameo at BETs
• Day of Reckoning Comes for Bernard Madoff
• Gaza: Family with U.S. Children Stranded
• CNN: Sanford Mistress Silent on Affair
• Will Iran Take the Heat Off Israel over Settlements?
• First Comes Love, Then Comes Obesity?
• The Honduran Coup: How Should the U.S. Respond?
• Signs of Spring: U.S.-Latin America Relations Thaw
• Gangs: the Mara Salvatrucha

The Obamas Find a Church Home — Away from Home
Church-Shopping: Why Do Americans Change Faiths?
What Michael Jackson Did on His Last Day

1. The Pope's Stand in Obama's Notre Dame Controversy
2. The Story of Barack Obama's Mother

Louisville's Bring Your Firearms to Church Day
California's Fiscal Crisis: The Legacy of Proposition 13

Which State Security Branch Rules Tehran's Streets?
Can Charter-School Execs Help Failing Public Schools?
What the Energy Bill Really Means for CO2 Emissions
The Key to Fixing Health Care and Energy: Use Less
Global-Warming's Rough Ride Through Congress
No OK Yet on Kerry-Produced Film
Did Drugs Kill Michael Jackson?
Michael Jackson: The Sad End of an American Icon
The Young Michael Jackson at Home
The World Mourns Michael Jackson
Go West, Young Chef
SC Governor Considered Resigning, Won't
The Anti–Red Bull: A Drink to Calm You Down
Michael Jackson the boy: A rare and certain star
Obama Goes Non-Denominational

Social Capital And The Venture Capital Game

This article in TechCrunch reinforces with sound data what you could have guessed on your own or rather, what is wisdom in the tech circles, that social capital matters. What you know is important, sure. We would like to believe there is a meritocracy. But who you know is als

Image via CrunchBase

o important, very important. It is not true that social capital is less important in a meritocracy. Not everyone has to have 10,000 friends, or even a thousand. How many people you know and stay in touch with depends on your personality type, career domain, success, how busy you keep, and a few other things. Can you smile? Can you say hello?

Maybe you know a lot, but would it not be swell if you could team up with people who also know a lot? Teaming up with people with similar goals and interests can take you a long way. Teaming up with people who compliment your knowledge and skill set is the only way to go. And then there's social

Image via CrunchBase

capital for social reasons. Who do you want to hang out with? Partying is also important.

And then there is the social capital social media cocktail. You can manage your bank account online. You can also grow, nurture and manage your social capital online. We live in such a day and age.

The Top 100 Networked Venture Capitalists TechCrunch Do venture investors

Image via CrunchBase

with the biggest and best networks end up producing the best returns? ....... “better-networked VC firms experience significantly better fund performance,” as measured by how many of the companies in their portfolios exited via an IPO or acquisition. ...... all the other venture firms who co-invested with it in funding rounds ...... The more co-investors a venture firm has, the better its network. The better its network, the better its overall returns. ....... better access to deal flow, talent, advisers, potential customers, and potential exits. ..... “to get a high score, you need to co-invest often with others that also co-invest often.”

Image via CrunchBase

1. Draper Fisher Jurvetson
2. Sequoia Capital
3. Accel Partners
4. Intel Capital
5. First Round Capital
6. Dag Ventures
7. New Enterprise Associates
8. Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers
9. Benchmark Capital
10. Ron Conway

Whom You Know Matters: Venture Capital Networks and Investment Performance


Whom You Know Matters: Venture Capital Networks and Investment Performance -

Fred Wilson
Facebook And Mashable: Social Media And Social Media Blog
Is Google Wave Social Enough To Challenge Facebook, Twitter?
Is Reading Socializing?
Define Social Media

From The Netizen BlogRoll

One afternoon in NYC Just as the brand started in the UK as the David to many Goliaths in aviation, mobile telephony, and financial services, the Virgin companies in the US are Davids offering a fresh value-for-money alternative to the bigger, bloated, legacy institutions... On Fallon.
A Pause From The Regular Programming For A Commercial
Securing An Independent: Identify Candidates
Sarychev Peak Volcano in Stereo
Bring the world to your event
First Round Capital Office Hours Comes to...Our Office

The King of Twitter He’s still dead. All that follows is discussion and wouldn’t we re

Image via CrunchBase

ally rather discuss it with our friends than Al Sharpton? ...... If the Iraq War was the birth of CNN could Iran and Jackson mark the start of their decline in influence? ........ Neda. Piece by piece, the story came together before our eyes, in public. The journalists added considerable value. But this wasn’t product journalism: polishing a story once a day from inside the black box. This was process journalism and that ensured it was also collaborative journalism – social journalism ..... n Twitter, the trends were all but filled with Jackson – except for the Iran election, which was still there, in the middle. That renews my fai

Image via CrunchBase

th in us.
Is Blogging Evolving Into Life Streams? Scoble spends more time promoting Friendfeed than his own blog ...... many of the top 100 blogs all look like mainstream media, with a team of writers, photographers, and editors. ..... the iPhone has resulted in 400% increase in uploads to YouTube ..... he’s slowed down on blogging and increased his activity in Twitter and Friendfeed ..... he’s losing his thought leadership, his voice is lost in the noise

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