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I depart on a new adventure for Vietnam, the land where i hear 60% are below 24 years old which means I should be considered a middle-aged expat when I arrive. Lets hope the kids in Ho Chi Minh City will be kind to the elderly.

If all things work out, I will be helping a friend in a venture cap firm that is working on a new fund for digital media investments. It will be interesting to cross the fence and look through the lens from different perspectives on how startups are funded within the trenches of the VCs. I will be entering this short stint with no high expectations but only to get some good exposure of the Vietnamese startup scene plus some cheap beer in an exotic land 2 hours away from Singapore.

Having never been to Vietnam, I have miraculously worked closely with quite a number of Vietnamese in my course of work in the SF Bay Area. I also hear much of Vietnam’s investment potential and booming economy but this being an Easter Friday holiday, I shouldn’t bore with your dry economics… WHO also seems to be giving Vietnam pressure for their bird flu cases which brings me to thank concerned friends and family who had prepared me with their doomsday prophecies..  Of course, Russell Peters also provide more comedic views of the place which had really psyched me about visiting this place some time back, such as how motorbikes are used as vans there..

Boy, I can’t wait..

Just an observation of the “leaderboard” of popular postings at Ping.sg now:

7 out of 10 are directly related to Nexus. Almost 42 hours after the end of Nexus, this might be reflecting the peak of Nexus-chatter on Ping.sg, perhaps the only startup to get the most out of the web2.0 -centric event. Lets see how big they go on from here. Much activity going on now at the forums on developing a Diggnation-style vlog to market Ping.sg. It will be fun.. So head on over if you haven’t kept up with the post-Nexus conversation. Nexus the event will never really be over…

Just a sidenote, even if Ping.sg gets big (now that they up in the Alexa top 100K rankings) it will suffer the same problems in scaling outside of our shores.. like tomorrow.sg.. how will regional online communities ever warm up to a url that blatantly promotes only local sporean news? Something for Uzyn the founder to ponder upon while he completes his final year project .. heh heh

Yeah, this long tail — a book. Hope you ain’t disappointed.

I blogged about myself reading “The Long Tail” by Chris Anderson some time back and how the internet was helping consumers all over the world “break the space-time continuum“. oohh.. big word.. what it all means is that the long tail might just turn out to be a shopaholic’s paradise if you buy big time over the web.

I break out of my self-imposed blogging freeze to break you this news — Chris Anderson’s exclusive interview by my good friend Bernard! You can check it all out here on the SGEntrepreneurs blog. Chris even mentions Singapore during the short interview and how he admires Lee Hsien Loong’s (Singapore’s Prime Minister) policies on creating a knowledge-based economy in Asia.

I am aware of IDA MDA’s i.JAM initiative and impressed with the efforts of your prime minister, Lee Hsien Loong for his policies of science and technology towards the creation of a knowledge based economy in Asia. The way I see it, the long tail is about reinforcing the diversity of culture and ideas and at the same time, recognizing the fact that you cannot predict a demand. The liberation of voices and ideas will lead to a messy and unpredictable situation in the marketplace. For example, YouTube is a chaotic television and you can see all sorts of content popping up that may not be acceptable for the Singapore government. The question or perhaps, the challenge for Singapore: is the Singapore government prepared to accept the chaotic and unrestricted ideas that emerges once the content creators and distributors are given the tools of production?

There is a new kid in the world of social networks. And its from the little red dot of Singapore.

Founded by two 26-year-olds R. Chandrasekar and Sam Hon, Velvet Puffin is an “always-on” service that seeks to bring together a seamless social networking and media (video, blogs, photos) sharing between the mobile ohone and your desktop computer.

The startup has received $10 million funding in cash-rich Singapore looking for our own Youtubes and Skypes. The Economic Development Board (EDB) is a public investor along with other private institutions. Such a large sum of money certainly raised eyebrows for a service which has no significant user base and is only launching its public beta today.

What is promising though might be in the intellectual property of Radixs, the parent company of Velvet Puffin. Radixs, in a press release in 2004, released information of their success in building the world’s first universal mobile operating system. This will greatly enhance the compatibility of mobile services across different handsets from the various mobile phone makers. The inter-operability of the mobile service with web-based standards might pave the way for what the Velvet Puffin team touts as “a truly always-on service” across the 2 important screens of the digital revolution.

A review of the startup is available on the Entrepreneur27 site, on Techcrunch and also on Business Times.

True to its upbeat ways, Piper Jaffray, the uber-optimistic financial services firm to the Internet industry , is back again with a 425-page report called “The User Revolution: The New Advertising Ecosystem and The Rise of the Internet as a Mass Medium.”

Wow. Big words, among other things, it also invented a new word “Communitainment” (See Point No. 3) to feed the raging flames of Web 2.0. Key findings from this report (which dun seem to be privy to nosey folks like me):

We expect global online advertising revenue to reach $81.1 billion by 2011, representing a 21% CAGR (2006-2011).

The User Revolution. The advertising world is going through a revolution, one that we call the “User Revolution” as it is happening primarily with the consumers, who are taking control of content consumption and branding. We believe this trend will cause a significant rise in prominence of the Internet as a major content consumption and marketing medium.

“Communitainment.” The Internet has increasingly become a principal medium for community, communication, and entertainment–three areas that have collided together and are impacting each other’s growth–generating a new type of activity that we call communitainment.

The Internet Is Mainstream. The Internet has become a mainstream media outlet that now rivals traditional media for reach and advertising dollars.

Media Fragmentation. The proliferation of online and offline media outlets has resulted in shrinking television audiences and an increasingly fragmented media landscape.

The Golden Search. We believe search continues to gain ground, driven by the rise of search as the New Portal, the increasing use of search in branding campaigns, and the local search opportunity.

We believe Google’s wide variety of non-search-related products creates a virtuous cycle of brand affinity that drives incremental search volume.

Video Ads Could Drive The Next Wave. We believe Internet video ads could become a game changer for large brand advertisers, who are used to the 15- or 30-second TV commercial

Internet Usage Patterns Are Changing. Portals maintain the highest reach, but the fastest growing category of destinations is communitainment sites such as MySpace and Facebook.

Ad networks are experiencing increased demand due to increasing Internet fragmentation, desire for more targeted inventory, increasing usage of networks for branding, and increased site visibility.

Agencies are rapidly evolving into more sophisticated, technology-savvy entities that combine best of breed offerings.

Watch These Companies. We espect companies such as Google (and YouTube), Yahoo!, Disney, News Corp, Time Warner, Microsoft, InterActive, Facebook, Craigslist, Brightcove, Yelp, SINA Corp., Baidu, aQuantive, ValueClick, 24/7 Media, Netflix, Wikipedia, MobiTV, Digg, and Hakia to be the most important players to watch.

Is there something you do not know here? While this report incorporates China’s major internet players, Kaiser Kuo of Ogilvy China is sceptical on the gross revenue figures due to the small size of China’s internet revenue base, despite impressive growth percentages.

I prefer to focus on ONE important trend mentioned. Of consumers taking over brand perceptions on the web. The online revolution has given a voice to the long-suffering consumers of many companies and I believe the uproar over some malpractices and product quality of companies that we have seen from Edelman’s Walmart disasters, Dell Hell is only the tip of the iceberg as consumers learn to band together and organize themselves. Two-way communication services such as IM and blogs will continue to be even more embedded in the service infrastructures of companies (the Customer Support department), product development processes to incorporate feedback and make pre-market testing more transparent and effective by giving sneak peeks to alpha consumers or bloggers. Marketers will also do well to start fine-tuning their advertising plans. This does not extend to 30-second TV commercials or the online equivalent of banner ads or video ads. They need to look at more interactive and engaging medium, perhaps Second Life properties for more immersive experiences, more advertorials in major online blogs and media outlets - essentially have higher visibility and presence to minimize the communication distance between corporate and consumer.

In response to the new word “Communitainment”, i will also invent my own - The Blogsumer (Blogger + Consumer).

Watch out, corporate world.

This is nothing new to those of us who don’t watch much TV anyway but spend hours on Youtube/ Daily Motion catching the latest Jap anime like Bleach, Death Note, Naruto or American TV drama like LOST, Heroes. Youtube is the new Napster or Kazaa or whatever you call it. The days of the TV locking us in with their millitant and rigid programming schedules are over. And if TV execs will stop sueing poor folks like us, they should wise up to the new realities of internet media.

Because Internet is simply the way to go for video entertainment. The slower the TV execs realize this the better for all of us. More regular Joes and Janes like us can have a shot at stardom and infamy on the web. Think LonelyGirl15 from Youtube (pic above) and the Backdorm Boys from China (who spoofed the Backstreet Boys on their way to fame, and even had their own merchandise).

Secondly, we have a shot at earning money from our less professionally but more engaging content before the suits and corporate fatcats gobble us up with their well oiled business machinery.

Amateur Content: The New Black

Have you heard of DiggNation? The cult favorite video series among the 18-34 geek audience that features Kevin Rose of Digg.com fame . Here’s what Business 2.0 has to say about it:

(A) packed trade-show audience of more than 700, peering up at the makeshift stage, cheers wildly for the start of the main act: Digg’s 30-year-old founder Rose and his spike-haired sidekick Albrecht, slouched on a couch, sipping beers, and staring down at laptops between their knees. A lone videocamera records the action…

… By the end of the taping - held at the recent Macworld show in San Francisco - dozens of tech fanboys rush the stage as the co-hosts toss out bumper stickers and T-shirts. Nearly an hour later, Rose and Albrecht are still posing for cell-phone pictures with fans.

Diggnation is no wimp in the money and viewership stakes too.

Just a year and a half out of the gate, Diggnation draws about 250,000 viewers a week and is among the most popular free video podcasts on Apple’s iTunes service - alongside offerings from ABC, the BBC, and CNN (which, along with Business 2.0 and CNNMoney.com, is owned by Time Warner (Charts)). It’s also making some decent coin: The show has had 15 sponsors thus far, each paying as much as $10,000 per episode.

A single guy manning the videocam. Can you believe what TV execs in the ’90s or ’80s will say when they hear of this? Today’s execs can only shake their heads and despair. Yea.. =D Amateur content rocks and is in fashion!

If you never heard of Diggnation, then there’s the notoriously popular “Lonelygirl15″ too, starring a real actress (American-New Zealander Jessica Rose) as a fictional angst-sy 17-year-old teen. Lonelygirl15 was so popular on Youtube that it spurred an online investigation by its fans for the real identity of this teen. When the facts were finally out, New York Times felt it worthy of their coverage. Jessica Rose, instead of suffering from the “witch-hunt”, went onto a role with United Nations and will also star along Lindsay Lohan in an upcoming movie. If you ignore the fact Lonelygirl15 was produced by a good backend team of producers, what a massive ego boost to any webcam-toting teeny-bopper around the world!

From Reel-life “Desperate Housewives” to Real-life “Desperate Advertisers”

(Marketers) want to get in front of video watchers and Web publishers that want their money. U.S. online video ad expenditures are expected to total $775 million in 2007, up 89% from last year, according to market research firm eMarketer. But that’s still only about 4% of projected total U.S. online ad spending of $19.5 billion. To increase that number, the industry may need to figure out a new way to advertise. (Via Forbes)

There is a huge pressure for advertisers to reach out to the expanding and highly loyal audiences watching all these online videos on the video-sharing sites. Whether its amateurish stuff like LonelyGirl15, Rocketboom or DiggNation, or professional and “stolen” copyrighted content like LOST, advertisers want IN.

While inserting video ads alongside such video content appears to be an intuitive solution, advertisers, content producers and channel owners have their own mind demons to overcome. The wide range of media formats make advertisers sceptical of appropriate brand depictions and scaling of their messages across the mass audience. Measurement metrics are also immature to track such a new form of advertising. Content producers who produce good content worthy of monetization are in short supply and its currently hard to band them together to create a large enough media inventory for advertisers. As for channel owners, the jury is still out on whether major video sharing sites like Youtube, MetaCafe, Daily Motion, Veoh can fight off the legal vultures circling the laissez-faire uploading culture of their young user bases.

Its like fighting a guerilla war sometimes as you watch Youtube take down copyrighted content as soon as the young renegade uploaders wage their pocket raids and provide the latest shows to serve the expectant viewers (like myself).

What’s in it for all of us?

Get out that webcam, line up your prettiest friends in front of it and a few good men who know their videos and lighting behind it… Then, upload on Youtube/ MySpace and then watch that money roll in..

TV might not be dead, but it sure hurts for a while while the Youtube stars revel in the limelight.

Web 2.0 logos are clearly distinguishable from their look and feel. But how do you put a finger to it in terms of design style? Check out this blog for an overview of the most popular logos we see.. The font of some logos are also identified, which really helps since its a bitch for graphic designers in trying to find them… (or at least for amateurs like me)

Jeremiah Owyang, from Podtech, has this beautiful summary of the various web marketing forms and tactics. I think of this post as the beginnings of the definitive guide that will enter all major marketing textbooks over the next couple of years. Get a headstart on everyone else NOW. If your company’s marketing director is pondering whether web marketing is restricted to mailing lists, newsletters or think that buying banner ads is really advanced, get ready for a re-education.

My favourite part is Section 5 “Community and Social Media Marketing”. I believe widgets will rule this year and get really mainstream, after Vista launches.

Zlango has received $12M funding from Accel Partners (fyi, the facebook investors) and Benchmark Capital. The service they provide is a text-to-icon translation service. I see it having immense impact among the IM users of ages 10-16 , also regarded as the next generation of kids who already are struggling with their English writing. Zlango, if successful, will eradicate the use of english over the web. We will enter the Web Version of the Caveman Era.

Here’s a horrible peek into the future, with the Adam and Eve story from the Zlango site.

I think its a ridiculous idea. I already dislike people who use too much icons to talk in IM, why the hell do I want more? Did I tell you this site was created by the Israelis? Man, I should emigrate there, my fart could probably be the next bio-fuel to solve the world’s problems.

GigaOm makes his point on something I fully agree - social networking will become a feature.

Why? Because social networking as an independent subject matter by itself gets boring after a while. Scale has already been achieved by those that focuses on social networking as the end goal - MySpace and Facebook. You have to provide a greater utility beyond just “linking to your friends online”. Nor will explicit dating as the end-goal be a compelling reason for people to join a social network. I rest my case for networks like Xuqa that plastered hot chicks on their homepage a while back in order to lure desperados.

But I do not think the social networking war has ended. The definition of social networking is pretty wide to encompass just about any site that allows you to browse other people’s pofiles and connect with them as “friends”. Friendster used to dominate a few years ago, and then usurped by a new generation of teeny-boppers who never heard of Friendster but used MySpace instead. Similarly, MySpace will also be susceptible to an upstart social network - one that began by being highly customized for a local niche group, like the high school students 5 years from now who think MySpace is lame and want something their own generation created. There is, after all, a limit to the number of friends you can maintain online, hence network size, which MySpace has now, might not ensure its longevity. Secondly, a premium-content-based approach taken by Fox to make MySpace an entertainment portal is still an experiment by Old Media to see if they can transplant their ways successfully to a new medium. First movers never always win.

What do you think? Want to make your own social network today? See a list of turnkey solutions here.