Quality of Life'com

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Quality of Life.com
The internet is providing new opportunities for
individuals and businesses to save time and
eliminate costs in more ways than ever before.
However, these new benefits are a double edged
sword increased connectivity is useful but also
means that a business is never out of range from
consumers and investors. The economy no longer
sleeps and the world is now the customer base,
not a city or even a country. As business goes
global and communications become wireless, fast,
and inexpensive, how will our lives as both
producers and customers be changed? Barriers to
entry are falling and businesses are now fighting
not only for consumer dollars, but for their
attention. The potential of the internet is as
yet unrealized but a frictionless economy where
transactions are quick and precise may be on the
horizon. This presentation will examine these
issues and examine what the internet holds for
the future.

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Quality of Life.com
The Internet
Value
Time
ConvenienceEfficiency
Cary Costello and Peter Hennessy
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Death of Distance
New Community
Redefining community
Importance of distance going
Age of dispersion
Cary Costello and Peter Hennessy
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Age of Dispersion
A venture capital firm dedicated to investing in
local businesses
There is a significant disconnect between where
venture capital is focused and where intellectual
capital resides. - Matt Harris
For more information http//www.villageventures.c
om
Cary Costello and Peter Hennessy
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Village Venture Funds
Affiliate Funds as of 9/30/00(1)
Affiliate Funds in Development
Birmingham, AL Bloomington, IN Gainesville,
FL Hanover, NH Kansas City, MO Louisville,
KY Madison, WI New Orleans, LA Rochester,
NY Tucson, AZ Champaign-Urbana, IL
Berkshire County, MA Boise, ID Burlington
Middlebury, VT Charlottesville, VA Five Colleges
Area and Springfield, MA Nashville, TN New Haven,
CT Portland, ME Providence, RI Worcester, MA
Cary Costello and Peter Hennessy
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Why Dispersion?
Cary Costello and Peter Hennessy
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What are the trade-offs?

• Pros
• Ski ½ days
• Commute 1.5 minutes
• Low Housing Costs
• Outdoor lifestyle
• Safety
• Community

• Cons
• No home market
• Lack of Infrastructure
• Shallow labor pool
• Frequent Travel
• Shortage of Professional Support

Courtesy of Jim Robinson
Cary Costello and Peter Hennessy
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Jekyl and Hyde
Technology is Jekyl and Hydeit allows you to
work remotely but the flip side is that you are
always on, always accessible, if you allow
yourself to be. -Dan Edmunson
Technology enables people to be more efficient
but it also threatens to fill the free time with
more work. It can give people more free time,
but the machines which make this possible
threaten to make machines of their users.
Cary Costello and Peter Hennessy
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Physical v. Virtual
Geography Important
Geography Irrelevant

Purchase/Act Through computer
Purchases Travel
Physical
Virtual
Human Resources In the buliding
Human Resources Global
Cary Costello and Peter Hennessy
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Home v. office
Customers demand Service 24/7
Cary Costello and Peter Hennessy
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Deconstruction of space and time
Plummeting communications costs
Cary Costello and Peter Hennessy
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B l u r

• Connectivity x speed x intangiblesblur
• Corporations must innovate or lose their place in
  the market
• Intel, IBM, General Motors, have all nearly gone
  out of business for failing to keep pace with
  innovation despite their size
• Companies must adapt or everything around them
  will blur
• Keep pace or become anachronistic IBM almost
  missed the PC revolution because they didnt
  think people would want personal computers

Cary Costello and Peter Hennessy
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Blurring of products and services

• Product lifecycles are collapsing
• Intangibles are more important
• Traditional products must be reconceptualized as
  an offerwhich contains certain aspects that
  include
• Interactive
• Customizable
• Anytime

Cary Costello and Peter Hennessy
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Blurring buyers and sellers
Cary Costello and Peter Hennessy
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Customizable marketplace
Individuals streamline buying/selling process No
physical browsing
The flip side
Cary Costello and Peter Hennessy
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Economics of attention

• Glut of information, for example
  

Businesses are fighting for a customer base.
There is increasingly unlimited information and
limited attention. Customers spend lots of time
searching for best deal this is the flipside of
the information age
Cary Costello and Peter Hennessy
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The Frictionless Economy

• A fully wired economy

Equals efficiency
Cary Costello and Peter Hennessy