CHEAT SHEET: The Word on the Week
1. Sell-abrate the Difference: Santiago Rodriguez, Microsoft (MSFT)'s new diversity director, is learning quickly, as the company's Web site shows: "All human cultures have common needs, but there are differences, too. How do you please a customer if you don't know what he or she values? That's what culture is all about."
2. One Olive or Two? Netcenter's new GM, Jim Martin, also has a heavy learning curve. Remember, Jim, Mr. Pittman likes his martinis stirred, and Mr. Schuler needs extra starch around the cuffs.
3. Is There a Roget in the House? After receiving its millionth invitation to "come help launch" a revolutionary startup, Cheat Sheet hereby will only accept invites to "cast," "fling," "heave," "hurl," "sling," or in a pinch "get cracking on" YourCompany.com.
4. Disco Inferno: Coming soon to a music store near you: Sony (dossier) kiosks that let customers burn a CD on site. Parents unclear on the concept are camping outside, Marilyn Manson discs in hand.
- Alex Lash
QUOTES
"There ought to be limits to freedom." - Gov. George W. Bush, complaining about the satirical site www.gwbush.com (New York Times on the Web)
"The whole process has brought chutzpah to a whole new level for me." - CEO Rob McGovern, who got calls just before CareerBuilder's IPO from "best friends" he hadn't heard from in 20 years (Washington Post)
"Think of what the CIA used to pay to keep a single informant in Belgrade. I've got 50 people there, and I don't pay them a thing." - George Friedman, founder of Web news service Stratfor
ONE WORD: No Wonder We Haven't Cured Cancer
Americans spend a total of 110 million hours a day on the Internet and 525 million hours watching TV.
Source: The Strategis Group
JUST ONE QUESTION: Jeff Mason
RocketCash, an e-commerce site aimed at teens, launched June 1. On RocketCash, parents can set up an account for their kid and monitor purchases. We asked president and CEO Jeff Mason ...
Q: "How did you get the idea to start RocketCash?"
A: "I have a 16-year-old babysitter who was annoyed that when she wanted to make a purchase she had to have her parents come over with a credit card. They'd look over the purchase and comment that something might be too expensive. I kept having to hear about it. Also, a parent mentioned that after typing in their credit-card number over and over, their son memorized it. Now he has the keys to the kingdom!"
- Kathi Black
NEWS: Online News for Savvy Chicks
The past two years have seen an explosion of new magazines for young women. The market may be oversaturated, but that isn't stopping new zines from cropping up online.
Case in point: SheWire, a news service ChickClick will launch June 14. "We had a lot of readers talking about serious subjects that our affiliates weren't covering," says Beatrice Springborn, a SheWire producer in San Francisco. ChickClick has 30 women's-oriented affiliate sites, and while the affiliates were "discussing more superficial topics like entertainment and hair care," the ChickClick groups were talking about "politics and world affairs."
The site plans to include an area where readers can submit their own news. Will it turn into a female version of PR Newswire? Hard to say. They plan to sell ads at some point, but for now, it appears that money is not a feminist issue.
- Jackie Cohen
ISLAND LIFE: E-commerce Hits the Vineyard
Summertime has come to Martha's Vineyard, Mass., and the rosebushes are in full bloom. Tourists pour off Cape Cod ferries in search of beaches and a peek at the rich and famous.
On the island where Jaws was filmed and you might find Spike Lee or Carly Simon next to you at the checkout counter, the buzz at clambakes this season is about homegrown Bookpool, a privately owned e-commerce outfit that's making waves.
Profitable since its
