Marc Andreeson — What is the next disrupter?
Jul 7th, 2009 | By Gene A. Wright | Category: Breakout Topics, Feature, General, Information Technology, Innovation, New Product Management, Strategy, Technology, Technology StrategyMarc Andreessen (New Lisbon, Wisconsin) speaks on a Forbes Video about what he thinks will be the next big technologies. If you do not know who Marc Andreessen (Netscape) is, read the bio. You will need to sit through some Dell advertising (Embedded Deployment, Enhanced Vitualization?), but it is a good 3:47 second view.
What do you think? Do you agree? Cloud Computing? Databases?
I am impressed with his ideas and venturism (and the amount of money their company cna invest). The sources of disruption include new consumer internet companies (similar to facebook, twitter), networking capabilities (with major advances in chips through commodiztion), databasing, open source code (new database structures), cloud computing, etc.. all trends that are really picking up in the technology industry to get things done cheaper and faster. It will be interesting to see how each of these technologies explode in the coming years.
I think it is quite interesting, especially since reading that Google will be releasing their new Chrome OS that will function similar to this. It will be a huge disruptor to Microsoft, by being open source and is looking to the cloud computing capabilities. Netbooks have been chosen as the initial target. They plan on expanding into desktops and laptops in the future.
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Of course, emerging technologies will include cloud computing whether we disapprove it or not. Look around and you will find smart phones and handheld devices with variant implementations of cloud computing.
Interesting interview. Technology seems to be moving away from software and placing it squarely on the internet. Data storage is a key industry he speacks to that is migrating to the internet. Companies are offereing computer back-up on the intrnet. Software my be the next casualty behind the print industry that the internet redefines.
Very interesting video. I agree with the idea that this next year or so will bring about a new, web-based technology that will take off like Twitter has this past year. It wasn’t much more than a year ago that most people didn’t know what Twitter was & now we talk about tweeting. The question is will it be a disruptive technology, or more of a sustaining technology.
I agree with sg33 that the Google Chrome OS has the posibility of being disruptive, especiallly in the Netbook market. Netbooks run a slower Intel Atom processor and are geared toward web browsing, email, & small MS office projects. By using the Chrome OS, they can link right to Google and make the Netbook simply an interface to the Google environmets (Gmail, Docs, ect).
He’s right. There really never has been a better time to be an entrepreneur with a web-facing business, what with the very low cost of entry.
However, I can’t escape the feeling of this being another house-of-cards. The last one was when people over-extended themselves; not having the funds to back their debt… and we all know what happened, as we watched 40% of our investments get sucked down the drain with them.
Independence appeals to me.
After listening to Mr. Andreeson, all I can say is wow. With all the new terminology he used it sounded to me that he was speaking fast. I am still trying to conquer the current, soon to be old, technologies. Actually, I have started to backing off on many of these websites because I am getting tired of the huge list I need to keep up-to-date of user ids, passwords, and security questions.
With his background, I am sure that he knows and understands what is around the corner in the new tech biz. I think that when he speaks much of the Silicon Valley listens. It is kind of a self-fulfilling prophecy. I am sure with him mentioning the company name of “GOOD DATA” that made that stock increase. Did you notice that he mentioned the company he co-founded of “Ning” as an up and comer?
Cloud computing is a new term for me. I looked up the definition and I still am not sure what it is. I know what databases are but I really did not understand what he was talking even after listening to the video twice. I will wait until the dust settles on this high tech stuff and let my kids explain it to me after they figure it out.
Gene has added his thoughts regarding cloud computing. I have to agree with Gene that the trend is certainty moving towards cloud computing. In this video Marc talks about Good Data, a company, which performs data analysis. The difference between this company and others is that rather than requiring companies to add costly infrastructures, like Tara Data, Good Data is web based. I think the trend of centralizing computing power with terminal systems is the way most products are going. For example, imagine an iPod the size of the Nana or smaller that connects to iTunes via the web and streams your full library of music. Therefore, the account size of a customer could be nearly infinite. In that way Apple would further transition from a product to service company.
It seems that Marc Andreessen definitely would be the person to ask what might be the next big disruptive technology. He is, after all on the board of directors for eBay and Facebook
, along with his years of technology innovation experience and accolades. The type of investing he talks about in the video does make sense to me, even though he and his partner are taking considerable risks. But Andreessen took risks investing in Twitter and Facebook too and now he predicts Facebook will have revenues over $500 Million this year! (http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-10280207-36.html) .
I’m not sure that I agree with the new database concept of uploading data ‘into the cloud’ though as the next big disruptor. Yes, it may be a great solution for some, but to disrupt the mainstream relational databases is still far off.
A lot of the things Marc talked about in the video seemed kind of old news (especially if I can understand all the words coming out of his mouth). I was hoping to hear something new that I hadn’t heard before. Obviously they’ll be another up-and-coming website like Facebook or Twitter, because people get bored and move on. It will be extremely interesting to see what that is. I agree with needforspeed…how cool is it the amount of $ these guys have to invest in new companies? I guess that’s what happens when you develop the first graphical interface for the internet and become a billionaire.
Clearly I need to brush up on some technology definitions. What are the privacy and intellectual property rights associated with cloud computing and cloud data storage? I imagine that the law hasn’t caught up yet, so how safe is any information you put into the cloud? I guess a company must weigh the risks against the reduced costs of utilizing that technology .
I agree that web based databases and cloud computing are going to become very common in the near future. This is because as a society we are becoming more and more attached to our electronics. The need to have large amount of storage available and still keep devices to pocket size will require the use of web based storage. This way off a single pocket size device the user can access all their music, social networks, movies, games, contact, etc.
The interesting thing here isn’t the technology, rather the small amount of money that’s required for startups these days. Andreeson quotes $200-300k as an initial investment to develop an initial product. I have a friend out in Palo Alto who’s working on his 3rd startup and does verify this number as being pretty average and that the potential for hitting it big is pretty good. You don’t have to develop something that’s perfect. It just has to be interesting enough to get noticed and then its only a matter of time before you get scooped up by the Googles, Facebooks and Amazons of the world. It worked for my friend – have you ever chatted in Facebook? Yup – that’s his code which Facebook purchased!
I always find it interesting to listen to entrepreneurs and how they got their start. I think that it is great that he and his working partner, Horowitz, speak to people based on their past experiences of being an entrepreneur. What better perspective than from taking it from the first step and working one’s way up in the world. Obviously Marc’s got experience and knowledge from a lot of different perspectives.
I find it interesting that he talks about how the back office and database side of things will be up and coming. One would have thought that would have been a big part of what has been hitting the market already but maybe he is referring to the creation of new databases.
This brings such opportunity for new small businesses opening. The ability for cloud computing makes the financial investment for a small business seem much more manageable. As we continue to move forward and advance in these technologies it also raises the questions for existing small businesses as to which way they should turn for their technology as things become now outdated.