I spent yesterday in Spain presenting and listening to presenters from a wide range of telecom companies.
I was struck by how focused on the present they are; perhaps rightly so, it's easy to go chasing tomorrow's revenues without looking after today's.
It's a difficult balance for existing companies; however, what was concerning was that start ups were basing their businesses on yesterday's technology.
As technological development accelerate finding a business model that is stable for long enough to see a return on investment is going to be difficult - there are some great technologies such as Tivo and Slingbox that are interim (They also both face stiff competition and already have their markets eroded) - perhaps the answer is that building a brand is more important than ever, even for a tech company.
The same is true for channels; today they might exist only on the PC. Tomorrow there will be new and different technical opportunities, but the real value will exist in the editorial content and the relationship the brand builds with its key audiences.
I was struck by how focused on the present they are; perhaps rightly so, it's easy to go chasing tomorrow's revenues without looking after today's.
It's a difficult balance for existing companies; however, what was concerning was that start ups were basing their businesses on yesterday's technology.
As technological development accelerate finding a business model that is stable for long enough to see a return on investment is going to be difficult - there are some great technologies such as Tivo and Slingbox that are interim (They also both face stiff competition and already have their markets eroded) - perhaps the answer is that building a brand is more important than ever, even for a tech company.
The same is true for channels; today they might exist only on the PC. Tomorrow there will be new and different technical opportunities, but the real value will exist in the editorial content and the relationship the brand builds with its key audiences.
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