Amazon Fire Causes Feud Between B&N and DC Comics

The yet-to-be-released Amazon Fire is causing a spat between Barnes & Noble and DC Comics. “Barnes & Noble yanks Kindle exclusive comics from its shelves” by Matt Stuart and Stacy Cowley reports that DC comics recently announced that 100 of their titles would be digitally available exclusively through Amazon. The titles will be digitally released November 15, the release date of Amazon Fire, the Amazon tablet. Barnes & Nobles decided they would ban those 100 titles from their stores.

Jaime Carey, chief merchant of B&N is quoted in the article saying:

“Regardless of the publisher, we will not stock physical books in our stores if we are not offered the available digital format… To sell and promote the physical book in our store showrooms and not have the e-book available for sale would undermine our promise to Barnes & Noble customers to make available any book, anywhere, anytime.”

Groupon Said No!

By now, you should know Groupon has turned down Google’s almost (so far reported) $6 billion offer for the company. The basics: Groupon is a high valued site, which brings together retailers and consumers so as to offer good deals. Through the website, people are able to share such deals using social media platform. Google wanted to purchase the website expected to have a value of $1 billion for supposed $6 billion. Groupon turned down the offer.

People are left wondering the reasons would Groupon give up the chance to let Google take them over. Recently, I read "Google's Groupon Groping Reveals the Shifting Power in the Web World" by Paul Smalera". Smalera gave a web dichotomy perspective for the turn down. Smalera stated Groupon is a social website where as Google is more search oriented and has not been so successful with social ventures. Groupon might feel better being acquired by Facebook (if they were interested) or any other giant social media company, which could then integrate better with the website. The other point made is Groupon would want to be taken by which ever company could mature it the best.

Smalera’s perspective is very fascinating but when I first heard of the decline, I observed from a different perspective. The control perspective.

Some entrepreneurs are start-up junkies. This is a term I took from the reality show of the same name that goes behind the scenes of a start up. The CEO of the company, Ron Weiner had started up various companies and sold them for high value. Some entrepreneurs start companies with the intention of eventually selling. Other entrepreneurs start companies and intend to maintain control of their creation. This intention might explain Groupon’s decline.

Groupon might want to stay independent and maintain control over the progression of the company. As far as growing, Groupon might believe it can help itself grow more and that continuing to do so under their control, the company could gain more value. My point is we can’t always assume such a decline is due to a defect in Google. Simply put, maybe, Groupon doesn’t want to have a Google takeover.

Groupon was supposedly in negotiations for a week. So I could be wrong; Groupon might just be bluffing or waiting for the next bidder. I’m just offering a different perspective. But remember this: Just because an entity is bigger, more powerful, and has more capital does not mean everyone wants to be owned by them. There is enough space for many web based companies to thrive and the natural progression of the web should not be eventual takeovers of smaller companies by bigger ones.

Note: For references to Google and Groupon, the links go to crunchbase.com. I just discovered this database of tech info. Its similar to a wikipedia for technology. 

Beyoncé: I Am... World Tour

I watched "Beyoncé: I Am... World Tour" on Hulu. Again. The first time, I only caught a glimpse of it and this time around, I jumping to the non-performance parts.The first time around, I saw a scene of Beyoncé editing the footage of the tour. She had a clear vision of the way she wanted the special to look and became director so as to see this vision come to fruition. Therefore, I watched the second time paying extra attention to the direction of the special.
I don't watch or purchase tour performance dvds, so I am no critic. I will say that if her vision was to show almost every performance within that 1 hour, her connection to fans, her as human, and as a boss, she succeeded. Beyoncé's career is not a mystery to anyone. Even if one is not a fan, one knows she is a singer, actress, fashion designer, and endorser of multiple products. Beyoncé hasn't really opened up too much about the way she runs her career. On the tour special, there were small glimpses into her work ethic (by small, I mean about a handful of short scenes). I didn't know Beyoncé ran her tour. She clearly has tour managers and most likely a 100 person crew but the first scenes of the special were her going over a lot of the details of the tour. She was involved.  In the end, I read some of the credits to know she is labeled as director, executive producer, producer, stage direction, and I stopped reading credits after that. The point is Beyoncé is in control of her career.
Not every musician has control; evident by the successful artists that are not getting paid or are clueless to the ins and outs of their industry. In fact, not every person is clued in to their career. If one sets out for a clear career goal (the path doesn't have to be so clear as paths are mostly unpredictable), take control where one can. Control gives you the best possibility of reaping the rewards of the hard work you have sown. This is not to say we will all become millionaires or do world tours but whatever rewards come your way, you should catch it. If someone controls your career, leaving you left out, they most likely will control the reward. The lesson is to understand that control, involvement, and rewards are all related.