Category Archives: Business

Startup Search: tracking the web startup ecosystem

Tonight I am unveiling a new site tracking the startup ecosystem. It’s a directory and analytics tool I’ve personally wanted for a long time, and I know others will enjoy. Introducing Startup Search. Startup Search tracks Web startups, their products, key employees, investment firms, and investment partners. Startup Search also tracks the success of each product since it was first introduced to the world, using publicly available metrics pulled into a single page. It’s a research tool, a discovery engine, and a fact-filled directory of our little Web startup world. I’ll walk through a few features. Directory data Startup Search…

Every good domain is taken. Here’s why.

Kevin Ham built a $300 million web company in Vancouver you’ve probably never heard of. You are likely familiar with his work as you drop vowels from the domain names of your favorite web startups such as Flickr or Tumblr, or try selecting a name for your new company or product. Kevin Ham built a domain name empire named Agoga, cutting exclusive deals with local registrars and national governments, attracting over 30 million unique visitors a month according to an article by Paul Sloan in the June issue Business 2.0 magazine. Think of a name, any name, and it’s probably…

New weekly podcast on tech news and trends

Last week I started a new weekly podcast covering news and trends in the web technology industry. I plan to sit down with different newsmakers and experts each week to examine the changing state of web technology and hopefully capture a snapshot of how this changing world affects our lives and livelihood. Niall Kennedy’s Podcast is a bit like an extended conversation on the topics I like to cover on Niall Kennedy’s Weblog. I’ll post short summaries to my blog for each new episode, but if you’re interested in full write-ups and enclosures you should subscribe to the podcast feed….

The end of Apple Computer

Today marked the end of Apple Computer after 30 years. The company has come a long way from kit computers assembled in a garage, capitalizing on at least one eureka moment a decade that causes people to rethink the intersection of cutting edge hardware and software. The release of the Mac in 1984 combined the best available hardware with commercial software utilizing the best ideas developed at Apple and research labs such as Xerox PARC. The release of the iMac in 1998 changed consumer views on personal computing, adding a colorful and quiet device to our desktops, placing an…

Five things you may not know about me

I’ve avoided the Blog-Tag chain letter for weeks, but Veronica, Nick, Brady, and perhaps a few others are waiting for answers. Enjoy! I am a history buff. My two areas of most interest are western religion (Jewish, Christian, and a little Muslim) and the USSR, two areas I think carry the greatest influence over United States mentality. I had a soccer career before jumping into the technology sector. I met, and in some cases marked, most of my childhood idols. It was a really valuable experience, shaping my views on people, management, fears and dreams all at the same time….

Handling of Microsoft’s copyleft violation

There have been a few accounts on the web about a copyright enforcement action I took yesterday morning. Below are some long details if you are interested in the full details in about 1400 words. Yesterday morning a Microsoft employee used a photograph of mine in a corporate blog post promoting new features in the Windows Vista operating system and version 7 of the Internet Explorer web browser. The photograph used in the Microsoft blog post pictured Dean Hachamovitch, general manager of the Internet Explorer component of Windows, on stage at the Gnomedex 2005 announcing support for web feed syndication…