Do I Know the Digg Guys or What?

Some of us (Read: those who don't plan/have a book to promote in November) choose to go to London at a different time than everyone else in Silicon Valley. So since I'm the only person in the Valley not at FOWA in London right now, I didn't hear Kevin Rose's keynote. But apparently I didn't have to. It nicely echoes what I wrote here: That Digg has picked a fork in the road and is ready to grow up and prove it can be more than a fan boy site filled with Microsoft ads. (Convenient timing for me too, since I'm updating "Once You're Lucky" for paperback.) As someone who has spent a lot of time giving Digg tough love, but also defending what Kevin and Jay have done well, I'm rooting for them.

(Sorry for the crowing, but I'm getting a lot of kudos on my latest Valley Girl column and am enjoying feeling like an actual reporter again today, less obnoxious self-promotional media persona. Well, except this somewhat self-promotional post and my upcoming interview on KQED's Forum in an hour...)

Valley Girl on the Blogging Crossroads

Oh, yes, I do actually still write a column for BusinessWeek. I think this was ideally supposed to run about a month ago, but it's finally out today. For loyal readers of my site, this won't be incredibly new. I've blogged about this angst a lot, and it was the subject of my blog-like, town-hall style keynote at Gnomedex in September, which as you can see actually greatly influenced my thinking about the topic towards the end of the column, so thanks again to all the participants.

But, if you don't mind, click on the link anyway. I'm renegotiating my contract with BW as we speak and it'd be nice to look like I generate traffic! ;) As, always, thanks to Tom Giles for putting up with my wacky schedule and being an awesome editor.

I have a pipeline of column ideas I can't wait to get to, and now that the tour is wrapping up, I'll have a little more energy to throw at them. Looking forward to a few months of being sarah lacy (lowercase) and not SARAH LACY TM and just doing some good reporting and writing again.

....Including a new chapter for the book's paperback release next spring!!! Everyone I've told that to has asked if they get some kind of discount if they already bought the hardcover, like when Jobs gave people those iPhone rebates. I love geeks.

Lawson to ZDNet: Elephant? I Don't See an Elephant in this Room!

Last month I wrote a column for BusinessWeek about the hidden-- and substantial-- marketing costs of software as a service and it created a bit of a stir. The theme of the piece was that the Internet had killed what was once the greatest tech business model: shipping a CD of software that was too brutal to rip out and charging millions for upgrades not to mention ongoing maintenance fees. The business model that built Microsoft and Oracle and SAP, and the business model that injected profitability and growth into maturing hardware names like Hewlett-Packard and EMC.

Of course, the SaaS model-- while bad for investors and would-be tycoons eying all of Larry's yachts-- is great for customers and for those entrepreneurs who were nimble enough to "get it" ten-plus years ago. As much as I firmly as I believe the myth of the magic SaaS business model needs to be busted, I never once disputed that SaaS wasn't the future of software. Think of it like the record industry: Is an Internet world better for label tycoons? No. But it's better for customers and, well, it's a reality.

Recently, we've seen a few signs of old software grappling with this reality. One is trying to figure it out. Another is just pretending the big, loud, SaaS elephant trumpeting in its ear isn't in the room.

Valley Girl: Saving the Publishing Industry One Column at a Time

Here's my latest BusinessWeek column. It started out as a blog post but got longer and longer so I transformed it into a column instead. It's about how the publishing industry needs to be as transformed by Web 2.0 (aka community, interaction, marketing) as it was by Web 1.0 (aka transactions) if it wants to stay vibrant. (Fitting since I'm in Amazon country today!)

In case it wasn't clear: I actually had a near-fairy tale experience with Gotham so its not a bitch-fest at all. I just want publishing to stick around as a viable industry! Now, to the next task at hand: My Gnomedex keynote! eeeeek.

Valley Girl: Women Are Doing Just Fine in Tech, Thanks for Asking Though!

Here's my latest Valley Girl column, which is the fourth most read on the site today much to my delight! It's always a surprise to me which columns resonate and which don't. Anyway, check it out here.

(OK, I admit "Don't Cry for Us" is better than my original title "What's Up, Bitches?")

It's interesting because at breakfast today in Omaha one of the guys was asking about how to get more women involved in the entrepreneur scene and I didn't have any Valley learnings to pass on because we clearly haven't cracked it either. That lead to a discussion of whether you can have it all and balance family and building a company. I know it's controversial, but I don't think you can, which is a big reason I don't have kids. (Mom and dad if it makes you feel better you can add "yet" to the end of that sentence.) I am in awe of women like Tina Sharkey who can somehow do it.

A few other factoids as I've been thinking about this issue.

800 or So DC Techies Later...

...And I am officially exhausted!! more photos and blogging about my time in DC to come. For now, breakfast with my husband in New York. I think I remember him...

Meantime check out my latest Valley Girl column!

Poor Valley Girl!

In a busy day for tech news-- with CNET getting bought, Carl Ichan is causing more troubles for Yahoo, and OF COURSE my book coming out officially-- I hope someone will check out my latest Valley Girl column on BusinessWeek about Israel's startup scene. As you know, if you read this blog, I spent a week in Israel in April and was a frustrating and enlightening experience. Sounds contradictory? Than it was an Israeli experience.

This was an incredibly hard column to write, because Israel is such a complex and contradictory place. At the heart of the column are a few questions for the tiny but very entrepreneurial country, which I think is at a bit of a crossroads: Will Israel always be Silicon Valley's farm team or emerge as a tech hub independent of the Valley? Should it aspire to that? Can Israeli entrepreneurs make great Web entrepreneurs?

Take a look! Give my column some love!

Valley-Ho!

If there's one theme that I've thought about, talked about and written about the most over my career covering tech and finance it's the debate of whether you need to relocate to Silicon Valley to be successful. In my case, there's no doubt I've had a better career just by covering business in the Valley, so it's hard for me to believe anyone who wants to profit from the startup ecosystem wouldn't be more successful here. Over the years, I've read a lot of weak treatises that say Valley isn't all that great, ultimately coming off either bitter or just naive, but here is a pretty nice piece arguing against Valley relocation. Although, I'm still not convinced.

Lazy Saturday Poll: Am I a Geek or Not?

I never know. Sarah Meyers says I am. (See comment #95) I'd like to be. Because that's like the "cool crowd" in SF. But I'm really a business reporter who covers tech, not a TechTV alum or gadgety queen. And as a hostile commenter on my blog pointed out to me earlier, I shouldn't even count as a "girl in tech." I guess I'm a girl "near" tech? (Hear that Adriana? Apparently, you can't invite me to events any more.)

If I'm an "early adopter" it's mainly because I cover this stuff, as much as I love my TiVo, iPod, Facebook, Twitter etc. (Of course, you could argue I cover it, because I love it...) But in the grand scheme of early adopters, I don't really rank that high. (Ahem, this blog is a month old, not five years old.)  Whenever TechCrunch, Wired, et all do lists of "geek girls" I'm never on them. (Which I actually kinda like, so that's not a hint.)

Another data point: I seem to be the only person in San Francisco NOT at Maker Faire today, which Scoble calls his "favorite geek event of the year." Instead, I did pilates, had brunch with a close friend and spent too much money at Costco. At least we bought a few Xbox games...since I may soon be working for the evil empire.

So, if you've been reading this or following me on Twitter, you've gotten to know me a little. What do you think: Geek or no geek? For what it's worth my husband said, "Not really." Then he read this post and said, "Eh, maybe."

[PHOTO: Me working on my book on my ratty couch I bought over *years* with my first $21,000-a-year reporter job out of college. Yes, that is Mr. Vinnie in the far left with his sister Miss Winnie. Those names alone should make me some kind of geek...

Photo credit: Geoffrey Ellis]

Meebo Comes Down with Wall Street Fever Too

No no, they aren't going public. But they have gone the east coast institutional money round along with Ning, Slide, Glam and others, according to TechCrunch. Per my Businessweek column and video on TT, we can now put Meebo in the category of "Not For Sale." Digg is one of the only ones on my list who hasn't yet raised what I'm calling a "recession round."

I've never really gotten where the business is in Meebo, but I know a lot of people love the service and I've always liked the founders a great deal on a personal level. They are savvy entrepreneurs. I hope the cash infusion helps them figure out the business model so bored students on library computers everywhere can continue to IM one another.