Great Response

This is really funny.  A TechCrunch writer found out and made public how much money Zappos management made off the Amazon acquisition.  Instead of getting mad, they decided to get even.

From the article 

“It’s a great story for us whenever an entrepreneur makes a crazy amount of money and we get to tell the world about it. For the entrepreneur? Not so much. Hitherto unknown relatives, entrepreneurs seeking angel investments, money managers and supposed baby-mamas all come out of the woodwork with dollar signs in their eyes.

Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh and COO/CFO Alfred Lin have figured out a way to cope with everyone wanting their money: Giving everyone my email address and telling them I’m in charge of their investments.

To be fair, Hsieh told me he was going to do this. He even told me they’d make an investment decision based on my favorite pitch. I just thought he was kidding. Then, two nights ago I had dinner with a Los Angeles-based entrepreneur who had “a hilarious” story to tell me. It seemed a friend at one of the more prominent Southern California investment firms was hounding him for an intro to Sarah Lacy. Clearly, this made no sense since writers don’t generate wealth. We’re lucky to pay rent and have some left over for booze. “No, I need to talk to her about managing this guy Alfred’s money,” the money manager insisted.”

Great response.  

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Here Comes Redbox

The first time I saw a Redbox, I knew that Blockbuster and Hollywood Video were doomed.  Here is proof.

Media_httpwwwmintcomblogwpcontentuploads200908mintmovies4png_enkzvhmgaietjyo

This doesn’t mean that they can’t evolve. Blockbuster and Hollywood can carry a huge range and a bigger inventory than a Redbox machine can. They need to maybe focus on quality. I would still consider going to Blockbuster if they had only “the best” movies and maybe a recommendation engine. Right now, I enter one and see hundreds of cheaply made movies that no one has heard of on the isles, and a couple of hits or recent releases on the end caps.

If they don’t adapt, it looks like this recession is going to put an end to Blockbuster and Hollywood. 

Here Comes Redbox

The first time I saw a Redbox, I knew that Blockbuster and Hollywood Video were doomed.  Here is proof.

Media_httpwwwmintcomblogwpcontentuploads200908mintmovies4png_enkzvhmgaietjyo

This doesn’t mean that they can’t evolve. Blockbuster and Hollywood can carry a huge range and a bigger inventory than a Redbox machine can. They need to maybe focus on quality. I would still consider going to Blockbuster if they had only “the best” movies and maybe a recommendation engine. Right now, I enter one and see hundreds of cheaply made movies that no one has heard of on the isles, and a couple of hits or recent releases on the end caps.

If they don’t adapt, it looks like this recession is going to put an end to Blockbuster and Hollywood.