critical assumption: October 2010

10/20/2010

Springwise Trends | This week's most generous new business ideas

Posted by amckinnis |

Here you go another edition of the trends from Springwise...Enjoy!

Your weekly fix of entrepreneurial inspiration! View this message in a browser.

7 coffee blends, 7 charitable causes
Non-profit, social cause / Food & beverage

Texas-based Project7's coffees are from small farms that are certified
Fair Trade and USDA Organic. Sold through coffee-of-the-month
subscriptions, each coffee blend is attached to a specific cause.

iPhone app lets citizens help monitor local waterways
Eco & sustainability / Telecom & mobile

Creek Watch will let people participate in maintaining the quality of
their local waterways. Site reports made using the app will be
aggregated into maps and tables and shared with water boards.

Personal library kit for kids
Lifestyle & leisure / Media & publishing

The Little Librarian kit lets a child create their own library using
file folders, book pockets, book and library cards, reading awards,
bookmarks, overdue slips and a reading journal. Just add books.

More bike-delivered farm produce, now in Minnesota
Food & beverage / Eco & sustainability

VeloVeggies will home-deliver boxes of veggies produced by
community agriculture projects, and pick up compostable waste
for delivery to compost processors and community gardens.

Rice cracker brand's cafes serve free drinks & snacks
Food & beverage / Marketing / Non-profit, social cause

Harimaya Honten's Free Cafes serve up coffee and teas for no charge,
along with the traditional rice snacks for which the company is known.
Patrons are merely asked to behave with courtesy and mutual respect.

Coaching service helps singles with online dating
Lifestyle & leisure

New York-based eFlirt Expert is a company that strives to help singles
market themselves well online and then successfully navigate the
transition into the real world.

New York officials test-drive car-sharing with Zipcar
Government / Transportation

New York City Department of Transportation employees will share 25
Zipcar vehicles by day for official business. Outside of working hours
the cars will be made available to the general public through Zipcar.

Artisan lip balms by monthly subscription
Fashion & beauty / Retail

For GBP 5 per month, UK-based Bonbon sends customers a
variety of attractively packaged lip balms made using only natural
and, where possible, organic and fair-trade ingredients.

Helping brands crowdsource sustainable solutions
Eco & sustainability

Myoo Create aims to help organisations put the crowds to work
solving environmental and social challenges. Prizes are offered
for the solution chosen by judges and for the most popular idea.

Bringing cupcake style to the homely meatloaf
Food & beverage

Chicago's Meatloaf Bakery is adding visual appeal to one of
America's favourite comfort foods. Meatloaf 'cupcakes', 'pastries' and
bite-size 'loafies' are prepared as beautifully as a high-end dessert.

Curated guide to creative events
Media & publishing

Creative Everyone uses an international network of editors to post
what they think are the most worthwhile events in their areas of
interest and region. Several cities in the UK and US are covered.

Matching industrial waste with firms that can reuse it
Eco & sustainability

Houston-based RecycleMatch helps companies with unwanted waste
find others that could reuse it. Owners can list items on the site for
free; fees are charged for successful matches or for 'wanted' listings.

Our contact details
Springwise BV, a 53rd Floor BV company
Address: Rhijnvis Feithstraat 17-I, 1054 TV Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Web address: www.springwise.com
Email address: info@springwise.com

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10/04/2010

Hype or Fact | Is there really an explosion in Cloud Computing?

Posted by amckinnis |

I read something today that made me wonder about the "explosion" of cloud services. Is that real or is it just someone saying it. We all know that Cloud is the new buzz word - and if you sell IT services, and you don't sell "cloud" services - well, you might as well close your business today and accept defeat.

But is that really true? If you sell billions of dollars in IT services today, but decide for some reason or another to not create and sell you're own cloud services [potentially partnering with someone else] - does that mean you'll be out of business in very near future?

The answer I keep coming up with is..."I don't think so". I've done enough research into the IT Services business to understand that most cloud offers are not really cloud offerings. They are "subscription" services, but not necessary "On Demand". In the world of hardware, we used to call these types of "contracts" IDIQ [indefinite demand indefinite quantity] - Cloud Services are just IDIQ for "services" - primarily compute and storage - potentially you could wrap some specialty applications in the mix - but let's not go there.

So, even if the biggest Cloud provider today [which is most the likely Amazon - but they don't provide separate financials for AWS] sold $1 billion worth of cloud services this year [which they won't] it is still just drop in the overall IT Services bucket. Most market watchers say that cloud will only make up between 10% to 20% within 5 years. That's great, and of course that means there is 90% to 80% that is not cloud services.

If I decided to write anything else about Cloud - I may decided to discuss how having thousands of individual companies using your infrastructure could become a real strain for your cloud services company.

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10/01/2010

Springwise | This week's most convenient new business ideas

Posted by amckinnis |

Professionals found for nonprofits that need their help
Non-profit, social cause

Catchafire takes into account the skills, cause interests and
availability of those wishing to volunteer when finding a match with
nonprofits and social enterprises that need professional assistance.

Dine, dance, drink and play, 50m above the ground
Entertainment / Food & beverage

Dinner in the Sky's latest eating experience features eight lighted
tables situated around a central bar, and seats similar to those on
an aircraft -- appropriately enough for a venue suspended in mid-air.

Retailer & Red Cross reward consumers for recycling
Non-profit, social cause / Fashion & beauty / Retail

New Zealand consumers who include a gently used Country Road
garment in donations to participating Red Cross shops will receive
a voucher for use towards future purchases at Country Road stores.

Healthy meals for kids, now in the frozen aisle
Food & beverage

Packed with hidden vegetables but free of artificial flavours, colours,
and preservatives, Kidfresh organic and natural meals for kids are
now available frozen in US supermarkets.

One tree planted for each wooden watch sold
Style & design / Eco & sustainability

Los Angeles-based WeWood crafts wooden watches that are
free of artificial and toxic materials. The company plants a
new tree for every watch it sells.

Controlled crowdsourcing, by invite only
Marketing & advertising

Edge Amsterdam recruits talent via art schools and other
connections to form a network, guided and coached by experienced
professionals, working on product and brand innovations.

Five concepts combining fashion and technology
Fashion & beauty

Shape-shifting robotic mannequins in virtual fitting rooms, customer
body scans to create onscreen models, Facebook in fitting rooms,
and apps to estimate bra sizes and get feedback on outfit ideas.

Flexible travel search tool uses natural language
Tourism & travel

Adioso's travel search engine can handle searches containing
flexible dates and destinations. Examples: "San Francisco to NYC
late October" or "Austin to anywhere under $200 next week".

Captcha-style tool uses adverts for user verification
Marketing & advertising

In place of nonsensical text in website user authentification tools,
Solve Media has come up with a tool that displays a small ad and
requires users to prove they're not robots by typing in the ad slogan.

Open video project aims to spur independent TV
Media & publishing / Entertainment

The Novacut project's free video editor can be used to make TV
programmes using regular HDSLR cameras. They're working on
a video player for fans to find, watch and support the results.

Cleaning products in refill packets for dilution at home
Eco & sustainability

A packet of DropShot's concentrated cleaning solution mixed with
regular tap water and given a good shake will yield a full bottle of
commercial-strength household cleaner.

Tool removes past flames from one's social networks
Life hacks / Media & publishing

Tell Block Your Ex someone's name along with his or her Twitter
identity, Facebook page and blog URL, and the tool will wipe that
person right out of your online life. The first five exes are free.

Medical comic books for kids explain serious diseases
Media & publishing / Education

New Zealand-based Kidzcomics has launched series of comic books
designed to help children understand serious diseases and medical
conditions, and the treatments required to fight them.

Solar-powered pest control
Eco & sustainability

Powered by built-in solar panels and pollution-free, the Solar Trap
uses a near-ultraviolet lamp to attract mosquitoes, moths and other
bugs, and then propel them by fan into an inescapable netting.