Web 2.0??!!

I just sat on a panel at a local "boot camp" event for entrepreneurs; probably about 250 attendees. Our panel topic was "Opportunities in Media and Telecom Convergence" with myself, an exec from a prominent local company which could be of service to new companies looking for mobile distribution, and 2 VC's. The VC's were expert in the space and had about $300 Million between them and at least one was of the sort that might actually invest in a very small deal. There was also at least one more VC in the audience, who does only small early stage deals.

The market opportunity around this topic is, to put it mildly, ENORMOUS. US telecom spend is about $875 Billion (!!) a year, and the media market is so large it's undefinable. Both markets are being totally transformed by convergence and new technologies and concepts that in some cases are loosely bundled as Web 2.0. Tens or hundrerds of billions in spending will be redistributed in this space before the end of the decade, and who knows how many billions in wealth will be created.

And .......We had maybe *3 dozen* attendees in our room. (!!!!!) Meanwhile, a session next door entitled "Opportunities in Web 2.0" was overflowing. The panel had nobody in particular on it, and with all due respect to those guys, nobody who would be of any real help to a startup. Not only do I challenge them (or anyone) to define what Web 2.0 is, but the O'Reilly picked up the phrase about 4 years ago to define concepts born years before that. But here were these lemmings searching out their fame and fortune in a buzzword while next door there was expert discussion about one the largest market opportunities in history along with people with bucks who would actually be receptive to a pitch.

I learned a lesson today about the power of a buzzword that people think is cool. I hope the budding entrepreneurs learned something too. And since recognizing opportunity when it presents itself is the first key to success I hope for their sake not too many of them quit their day job.