Kind of a long post about Google+, Groupon meet Foursquare, and the Debt Crisis Averted. Hopefully worth the read.
Google Plus Updates and a Huge Design Flaw:
Mashable reported on Friday that Google has launched a Feature Update Center for Google+ for users to learn about new features as they are added. The first update is the ability to organize your Circles by changing the order in which they appear. It's intent is to allow users to access their popular Circles faster and prioritize their stream though it doesn't change how Circles are create or organized. My biggest functionality issue with Google+ is that it lacks an ability to manage interactions between Circles that overlap.
A feature that would simplify Circle Management and Sharing is the ability to nest Circles or build taxonomy for Circles that overlap. For example, everyone in my College Roommates Circle can be found in my College Circle and my Friends Circle respectively. Rather than adding all of my college roommates to my College Circle and then adding them individually to my Friends Circle, I should be able to drop my whole College Roommate circle into each of these larger groups. Here is a schematic of what I'm describing to drive the idea home.
Groupon and Foursquare Partnership:
The recently announced partnership between two former rivals is a tremendous step towards improving what many experts call the Redemption Loop. By offering Groupon Now deals through Foursquare, Groupon gains access to new users and a platform for redeeming their instant deals. Some have called this a Win-Win but I fail to see the financial benefits for Foursquare as details of the partnership will likely not be disclosed. Foursquare should gain new users from the increase in deals on their platform at the cost of eroding the value of their own deals. More to come on the potential economics of this deal once I've had more time to wrap my mind around the potential volume, margins, and sharing parameters associated with this deal.
Debt Crisis Thoughts and What Comes Next:
Unfortunately my #debtastrophe conversation never materialized on Twitter but the debt crisis has clearly been the single most important story in the news for weeks. The entire process showcased the dysfunctional partisan logjam otherwise known as Washington from the President/Speaker's failed compromise to the Senate's weekend filibuster. After a memorable week of speeches and doomsday planning, the Senate is finally set to vote on a House bill which Dems, Reps, and Tea Partiers all seem to hate. This "compromise" feels like a wasted opportunity to truly set our Federal Government on a sustainable path to solvency which could have been accomplished through shared sacrifice. The worst piece of this legislation is the establishment of a bipartisan deficit-cutting congressional committee which Speaker Boehner had the audacity to endorse last night on CBS. Apparently he is confident that this committee will NOT recommend tax increases and that it is likely their recommendations will be endorsed by congress. If that is the case, why did the Gang of Six's recommendations fall on deaf ears in the House while the majority of Americans are in favor of raising taxes (revenue) to help reduce the deficit. At the end of the day, Congress gets a D for the effort and will likely be faced with similar circumstances come 2013.
Next post will probably be about Joyus, a startup profiled by Dan Primack today. I'll probably expand upon his Pros and Cons to create a SWOT analysis assuming they've made enough info public. Also, look for a more thorough analysis of the Groupon Now and Foursquare partnership.
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