Evernote shares its story (link above) on going Freemium. It has a huge user base (additional 4,500 users try it every day, with 1.4m people within the first 18 months). I'm a very loyal user myself, but my needs are within the "free" limits, so lucky me - I don't have to pay a cent.

A good read, but for me, it raises another question. How viable is the Freemium if model your product is targeting SMEs?

Even for companies with huge user bases, freemium may not turn out sustainable. Skype has failed in that model. YouTube and Flickr are still trying very hard to make it work.

As Phil says, perhaps it's true that it only works for companies who can (1) drive customer loyalty and (2) drive down costs while constantly improving their product.

What about for products targeting SMEs with a significantly smaller user base? Comments?

An excellent read of Apple's and Microsoft's marketing journey.

Entrepreneurs should take a que from this - good marketing is half the battle won! The other half, of course, is a good product. What else?

I must say I love these ads. I can just spend hours looking at them. Speaking of which, if imitation is the best form of flattery, this is yet another area Microsoft is imitating Apple. ;)

Graham Hughes is attempting to set a new world record by setting foot in every nation on planet Earth in just one year, without flying, hitching or driving.

And these are the rules he's going to play by:

1) He must physically step foot on dry land within the continuous border of every nation state of the UN within one year. There are 192 member states in the UN.
2) He may not fly
3) He may not drive
4) He must use public transport as much as possible

This man is crazy - but i LIKE! Because crazy, irrational people are the people that make things happen!

Will I ever do something like that? Maybe, but not in a year. Time is too precious to waste like that, spending only 2 days in each country. Maybe 3, or 4 years. ;)

Godspeed, Graham!

Oldie but goodie - watched it again and as always, stirred up emotions deep within. I just wish he wasn't that much of an asshole. ;)

Though we do not have economic indicators for Switzerland in 1984, we have the figures in 2009 and it appears that Singapore is heading towards a Russian standard of living, rather than Switzerland’s.

Let us compare the indices for each category:

                                                                             Singapore        Moscow         Zurich

Wage level:                                                         31.3                   30.9                    119.8

Domestic purchasing power:                          39.9                   49.4                   106.9

Working time to puy iPod nano:                      27.5                   36.0                   9.0

Price of services:                                              72.5                   65.0                   110.9

 

As the above figures have shown, the Singapore worker has more in common with the Russian worker than a Swiss worker.

Like the Russian worker, the Singapore worker has low wages and domestic purchasing power which is aggravated by the relatively high cost of living in their respective countries.

In fact, the Russian worker has a higher domestic purchasing power than the Singaporean worker though his wage is slightly lower. And don’t forget Russia is a vast country. If one cannot survive in Moscow, they can move to the countryside where cost of living is lower. There is nowhere for Singaporeans to move to.

This is an interesting (although I feel a bit biased) article done by The Temasek Review.

We're doing worse off than the Russians!

Only a few words to say...

Amazing! ... BUT dude, you have WAYYYYYYYYYYYYYY too much time on your hands! Put that talent to better use!

This car is gorgeous. It's the Apple of cars. 0-100kph in under 5 seconds! and full charge in under an hour. Destructive technology of the future! Plus, a 300 mile range means I can drive it to work and back for an entire week on ONE charge.

I love that it's so environmentally friendly yet technologically enabled - Pandora and all. I wonder if we'll get something like this in Singapore in the next 5 years. Well, for now, I'll guess I'll stick to my dingy old diesel van ;)