Charlie Rose Interview with Michael Boyd – Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company
http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/12032

There are so many ways one can experience Shakespeare but I do like the way Boyd tries to create Shakespeare from his experience.  I would rather go to a Shakespeare play that has bad acoustics and average actors than to a play which absorbs a few hours of my life but there is nothing to return to, but just a disposable and consumable theatrical experience.

It is funny how when I was younger I was invited into theatrical productions and took them for granted, unable to grasp the magic of theater, and now when I am too busy even for blogs and tweets, I look forward to those moments when I can take rare opportunities to watch productions.  I guess why I like Shakespeare is that he understood at such great depths the human condition, in a way where I merely shallowly and whimsically live it.

[v.o.M.]
“Viktor Ovurmind” @thoughtspaces:twitter

I see this as being about an extension of  ice-cream truck marketing theory.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glasgow_Ice_Cream_Wars

Theory refresher:
1) An icecream truck puts itself on the middle of the beach – a real world beach 
2) 2nd truck parks next to first – servicing less people optimally but securing on a simple nearness criterion half market

Observations 

Both could do better by mutually distancing from each other to make themselves geographically accessible to “their” half market

Each does better by betraying pact - In winner takes all market violence ensues

However, if product differentiation is considered one sells hot dogs (or illegal substances) and no ice-cream  - they park next to each other and simply try to out-service each other.

 Optimum solution – One company buys many trucks, sells burger and ices (with mustard? – biz op. anyone?), from each and puts them each in centre of one geographic share of the beach

Applying theory more broadly …Now consider an infinite zero landscape market, with infinite accessibility (the internet), and rapid evolution of service offerings Web 2.XYZ

Result – Each van must become Go To provider of a differentiator service or will be swallowed up

A map of ice-cream carts remains valuable (Google)

Reviews of new services become valuable (blogging)

Rating systems become valuable (XYZ+1)

Walled Gardens are attractive- they make a physical features that must be defended but create locality

Walled gardens collapse , and proprietary models collapse (AOL / patents – ultimately / Microsoft – who?

They must as they serve no purpose

Barriers to entry collapse – Incubators / Y Combinator / virtualisation / Mini VC / Super Angel

Businesses and resources eventually become commodities  - Silicon Road – 500 startups  - recruitment wars (no differentiators only equity and cash )

Investment markets cease to show long term super-normal profits see various recent blogs

 - Big players are all bubbles Color ful ones

Diverse services can be highly profitable in smaller naturally differentiated markets (languages /culture/ location based services) and B2B support tools.

Smart money moves out of geographically constrained markets – Sand Hill/ Menlo becomes New York Seattle
London –  and commodity money seeks diversity eg  @Seedcamp #Prague  

- and that is why I am mentoring there next week