Welcome to Carabiner’s latest newsletter, Beta.

Those of you familiar with the software world may immediately associate beta with early deployment and testing of software.

But recently we’ve learned there’s another meaning for the word beta. In the sport of rock climbing it means ‘advice or instructions on how to successfully complete a particular climbing route.’ It wouldn’t be unusual to hear one rock climber shout to another, “What’s the beta on this mountain?”

Given our mission to guide start-ups and high growth companies on their fast-growing corporate path — and our footholds in the tech world — we thought Beta would be the perfect name for our quarterly newsletter. In each issue, we’ll strive to provide articles that help you better understand how to navigate your way in and around the peaks and valleys of the tech world.

I hope you enjoy the issue!

Take care,

Peter

Bubble 2.0 – Are we there yet?

Indicator Lights: The Next Bubble’s Coming

In case you haven’t noticed, indicator lights from the street to the information superhighway to “the Valley” and “the Alley” all point to a new Internet Age being upon us: Bubble 2.0.

Indicator one: the buzz is back. A month ago I had the opportunity to sit down with a Silicon Valley investor at a CEO High Tech Council meeting. He shared with me that people in the Valley are coming out to play again. Old haunts of the first Internet boom are filling up again. People are networking. New hang outs are full again. And deals are being made.

Indicator two: the sheer size of Q1 deals. NBC Universal buys the women's portal iVillage for $600 million. Online entertainment Heavy.com raises $10 million in venture capital. And, for undisclosed amounts, Google, Yahoo and the like are scooping up small, online software companies. At the rate the Internet giants are acquiring start-ups, new Internet entrepreneur hopefuls are putting new ideas to work to start the process of getting noticed, and eventually getting acquired.

The Players & the Owners

The players in this round of Internet dodge ball are a new hybrid of entrepreneurs with new offerings from investors. They’re hybrids for combining lessons learned from Bubble Burst 1.0 with crafty new ideas for online software, technologies, communities (just to name a few) and targeting a new audience: the web consumer, especially the hard to reach under 25 demographic.

Their hunch that a new digital lifestyle – a new reality adopted in the ‘90s by the 30s and above crowd, and the natural order of life for the teeny boppers and mid-20ers – is proved by the online world being the new reality for how people shop, do business and communicate with each other. New online business entrepreneurs are targeting an audience that’s only continuing to grow daily. Take search engines as just one example. In January of this year alone, U.S. Internet searches climbed to nearly 5.7 billion, up 39 percent from January 2005 (Nielsen/NetRatings).

The market demand, combined with new private investors in search of the next big thing and the trend of the Google’s and Yahoo’s eagerly seeking new ways to generate revenue, point to a very positive end for the small gamble of starting up an online business. With barely a half-decade passed since the last boom and bust though, some VC advisors are turning a cautious eye to any new investments.

Burst 1.0 to Bubble 2.0: Lessons Learned, New Trends Abound

If you were to compare Bubble 1.0 to 2.0, from the gigantic deals passing weekly to the growing number of new businesses popping up, you may not find it all that different from the hype pre-Bubble 1.0. But if you take a look closer, there are keen differences between then and the market trends taking place now.

For one, young companies and business owners (even those under 25) are being less frivolous than their predecessors from the late ‘90s. They’re not letting hype and exaggeration cloud their focus on their products, revenue goals and exit strategies.

The way to make money has also changed. The start-up and operational costs for online businesses today are less than Bubble 1.0. The sheer drive of this market is also driven towards the consumer, versus the last tech boom aimed at infrastructure and enterprise solutions.

The ultimate money maker: how much a company sells for and how fast, has also done a complete 360. The first time around, companies aimed to go public and make millions on high-valued IPOs. This time around, a majority of the companies and private financers are looking to be bought by one of the large Internet parent companies and cash out in one big exit price instead of going public and profiting per share.

What do you think? Do you think we are in an Internet bubble again? Do you think companies are being built? Are emerging markets facing bubble trouble all over the tech market? Help Beta stay ahead, share your thoughts with me at pbaron@carabinerPR.com.

Atlanta CEO High-Tech Council Calls for Presentations

The Atlanta CEO High-Tech Council, an exclusive membership organization that invites more than 1,500 CEOs and senior executives (CIOs, CTOs, CFOs) from Atlanta’s leading technology companies and departments to regular receptions, is calling on CEOs to submit their ideas for presentation proposals. Past presentations have been given by the leaders of Bellsouth, Earthlink and Scientific Atlanta. Presentations should be approximately 45 minutes in length, followed by a 15 minute Q&A session and provide insight and experience on how CEOs lead their companies, unique challenges they face, and how they creatively overcome those challenges. To submit a proposal, please send a one-paragraph biography and a brief presentation abstract to Peter Baron at pbaron@carabinerPR.com by Friday, April 28.

PRWeek Showcases Carabiner’s Creative Approach
to Getting Noticed at Trade Shows

Software startup Think2020 "had a complex message, a small budget, and a blank slate," says Suzanne Moccia, senior account strategist at Carabiner Communications. Generating buzz for a corporate launch at a large trade show with a small PR budget was a difficult puzzle to solve. Click here to read one of our client success stories, as featured in PR Week.

Carabiner Communications Adds Two New Technology Clients

We’ve started working with two exciting companies — Digital Envoy, the expert authorities for online authentication (to keep you safe while banking online), and Walking Stick Solutions, a New Delhi, India-based professional engineering services company with North American headquarters in Atlanta’s Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC). Click here to read more (PDF format).

Security Expert and Carabiner Client Recognized
as One of Retail’s Top 40 under 40

This past January, Chain Store Age magazine named Joe Davis, CCP, director of loss prevention and operations strategy for Encapsulon, as one of the 40 Rising Stars Under 40 in retail. The prestigious list recognizes the top young executives that are taking a major role in reshaping the retail industry. Joe’s career began at Wal-Mart, where he redefined the way the giant retailer managed loss prevention. » Read more.