This is a stat that research firm Magna Global announced a few weeks ago, but really just set in; about 13 million more American households use over-the-top video services, like Netflix, than own a DVR (53.3 million vs 40.5 respectively).We’ve always known DVRs were a stop gap technology until the day we can watch whatever we want, whenever we want, but still. That gap isn’t exactly closing though either, as the very same firm predicts that DVRs will continue to grow by about 33 percent to 63.1 million over the next four years, which is a little less than over-the-top is expected to grow. The real take away here though is that linear TV is going to die a slow death, but it is on its way out as it gets squeezed in both directions by high tech options.
Over the top video already more popular than DVRs originally appeared on Engadget HD on Sat, 30 Jul 2011 16:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Startups love to point to big growth numbers, and the press loves to publish them. We are as guilty as anyone else in this regard: one million downloads, 10 million registered users, 200 million tweets per day. These growth metrics can often be signs of traction (which is why we report them), but just as often they are not. It is important to distinguish between real metrics and what Lean Startup guru Eric Ries calls vanity metrics.
Vanity metrics are things like registered users, downloads, and raw pageviews. They are easily manipulated, and do not necessarily correlate to the numbers that really matter: active users, engagement, the cost of getting new customers, and ultimately revenues and profits. The latter are more actionable metrics. As First Round Capital’s Josh Kopelman recently advised on Founder Office Hours, “The real data is retention and repeat usage.” Startups that focus on the real metrics can make their products better, attract more customers, and make them happier.
It is important for startups to properly instrument the data they track so that they can get a handle on the true health of their business. If they track only the vanity metrics, they can get a false sense of success. Just because a startup can produce a chart that is up and to the right does not mean it has a great business. A mobile apps could have millions of downloads but only a few hundred thousand active users, or a freemium website might see exploding traffic growth but barely any conversions to paying users.
Many startups, of course, track one set of numbers internally and selectively share another set of vanity numbers externally with the press. The worst is when startups try to pitch us with raw growth numbers (we are up 400%), but without any context (400% from what, 1,000 users or 100,000?). We always ask for more meaningful numbers, but those are not always forthcoming.
The vanity metrics aren’t completely useless, just don’t be fooled by them. There are ways to back into real numbers from the vanity metrics. VC Fred Wilson blogged today about his 30/10/10 rule: 30 percent of downloads or registered users are active once a month, 10 percent are active once a day, and 10 percent of the daily users will be the maximum number of concurrent users. These are the patterns he is seeing in his portfolio companies and the startups pitching him.
Startups would be better off, however, reporting real metrics from the start. Vanity metrics can catch up to them, especially if those numbers do not correspond to the real numbers. Facebook is a great example of a company that focuses on the right numbers. Even in its college-only days, it would always talk about daily active users (the users who come back every day) and how fast it took them to take over a particular campus. If more startups would measure and share the right metrics from the start, the rest of us would focus on them too.
Kagetsuki writes “We've just gotten a letter from an attorney representing the Business Software Alliance stating someone (we're certain it's a disgruntled former employee) submitted information we are using illegally copied software. The thing is… we're not using illegally copied software. We have licenses for all the commercial software we are using. Still, according to articles on the BSA, that's irrelevant and they'll end up suing us anyway. So we now need a lawyer to deal with their claims and we don't have the money — this will surely be the end of the company into which I've sunk all my savings and three years of my life. Has anybody dealt with the Business Software Alliance before? What action should I take? Is there any sort of financial recourse, or at least a way cover our legal fees?”
There is definitely a lesson to be learned here and that would be that there is more to life than gaming. That may be heresy in the gaming world, but long term gaming sessions can take their toll. Game responsibly.
“Chris lived for his Xbox. When he got into a game he could play it for hours and hours on end, sometimes 12 hours in a stretch. He got sucked in playing Halo online against people from all over the world.”
Businesses operating online can have hundreds or thousands of customers navigating their Website in a given day, in most cases slipping by without the business owner acknowledging them or necessarily even knowing anything about them.
A web app called Intercom is the latest in a growing selection of customer relationship management and engagement products that aims to change that, for better or worse.
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By dropping a line of JavaScript into their sites, business owners can pull in more social data about their registered site users and engage them with targeted messages. Intercom automatically pulls in links to users’ social profile, their general location and how long they’ve been active on the business’s site.
Businesses can then reach out to site visitors with specific messages. For example, you could ask users if they need help or have any feedback, which many will appreciate.
Of course, not all users will go for this kind of thing, as some are perfectly content to browse a Website, make a purchase (or not) and leave without interacting with anybody. This being the case, these types of tools should probably be used with caution and moderation, but that isn’t to say they can’t be of enormous value to companies.
Intercom also lets you track those customer relationships over time so you can get an idea of which relationships are some of your most valuable online.
The app is currently in private beta, which you can sign up for here.
Businesses operating online can have hundreds or thousands of customers navigating their Website in a given day, in most cases slipping by without the business owner acknowledging them or necessarily even knowing anything about them. 