VCs are seeking Vietnamese Web 2.0 Startups

Yahoo! oneSearch Street Campaign, Friendly but not Relevant

nospam@example.com (Jason) — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 06:56:55 +0200

Yahoo SEA just teamed up with the leading mobile operator in Vietnam Mobifone on mobile search services. Along with TVC campaigns young locals could see promotion couples riding old Vespa bikes carrying iPhone mockups. At first sight, it seems to be a cool move since the creative guys had associated the mobile search service with the hottest phone and trendy bike. But if you own an iPhone, want to surf web the first choice should be Wifi then GPRS/EDGE. Even with low speed GPRS iPhone owners can use Safari to search with Google. More than 50% of iPhone users are gadget savvy, the others just use iPhone for fashionable reasons so that using oneSearch with iPhone should not be their choice. In fact you can find Nokia N81 co-branding with Yahoo Mobile page, why not use it consistently. One good option is to explore the BlackBerry segment with increasing number of young users. BB owners are heavy GPRS users with many opt for flat packages.

Can eBay Pull Chodientu up?

nospam@example.com (Jason) — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 09:56:00 +0200

BusinessWeek just posted an article on partnership between eBay and Vietnamese clone Chodientu. Although eBay is a global powerhouse but no successful track record in Asia. C2C E-commerce in Vietnam should have a long way to go since online payment and security are big obstacles. The article mentioned IDG and Softbank as investors of Chodientu.vn, that made local media interpreting "leading mobile operator" in Japan (Softbank) as partner of Chodientu.vn. In fact, the VC firms that put money into Chodientu are IDG Ventures Vietnam and presumably Softbank India and China Holding. In Vietnam Chodientu.vn had associated with two infamous actions: site cracking by former technical guy (team chemistry problem) and CPC ad widget calculation with publishers. It is easy to understand a global player like eBay need a local partner to enter the market but as a local player you should focus on building customer base, community, user experience rather than putting partnership with VC and international partner as top priority.

Vietnam Web Scene on OpenWeb Asia

nospam@example.com (Jason) — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 10:31:36 +0200

A network of A-list bloggers in Asia covering web business in English had announced a Workgroup called OpenWeb.Asia. Details on the Workgroup can be found on Gang Lu's Mobinode, who initiated the network. ReadWriteWeb covered the action too. OpenWeb Asia 08 - the first pan-Asia conference will be announced soon. The Vietnamese Web 2.0 Startups blog is an active member in the Group and we hope to see more members to contribute to the development of Web business in Vietnam and Asia.

Sex and Violence to Draw Traffic to the Website of the Vietnam Study Promotion Society

nospam@example.com (Jason) — Mon, 26 May 2008 20:30:38 +0200

Dantri.com.vn is one of the top 4 news portals in Vietnam with sensational news coverage style. Celebrity gossip and trivia could draw attention of teens and office workers quickly. A recent article in automotive section could scare old generation people with some high rated violent photos that you can see in horror films. A Vietnamese version of Pamela Anderson played the key role attacking the patient that parents should tell their kids to stay away from those kinds of websites. Ironically the website is belong to the Vietnam Study Promotion Society (newspapers and magazines must be managed under State owned agencies or Government licensed associations/societies). Actually the website is run by a VC backed company trying to drive readers to its new portal. Using tabloid tactics could be a good choice for digital content companies but much abuse could destroy their image fast.

Yahoo Vietnam Launches TV Ad Campaign, Can Old Way Help?

nospam@example.com (Jason) — Mon, 05 May 2008 20:22:03 +0200

Yahoo SEA just launched new services specifically for Vietnamese Internet users such as Yahoo!360plus blogging, Yahoo!Music. Along with the appointment of Vietnam General Manager, Yahoo Vietnam runs a TV ad campaign with TVC storyline from a Vietnamese fairy tale. It is a cool TVC by traditional creative production standards, but can it help Yahoo gain a fair search market share in a Google dominated territory. I think spending ad dollars on TV is a waste of money by Yahoo since Vietnamese TV audience is mainly old generation people and light Internet users. It seems that Yahoo still follows the pattern used in the US ten years ago. Vietnam is an emerging market but the local Internet generation has much exposure to viral marketing, digital rumors, peer reviews so that Yahoo's top down approach should not work here. (While I writing this post, Yahoo's share fall sharply after Microsoft backs away from takeover bid, adds much pressure on Yahoo management)

Alexa Rankings System changes and Vietnamese Publishers Rethink Web Metrics Strategy

nospam@example.com (Jason) — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 11:00:33 +0200

Web metrics provider Alexa just announced the New Alexa Rankings with new algorithms that pushed most of Vietnamese websites' ranking down overnight. In fact it is a good news for marketers in Vietnam since Vietnamese online publishers used to set Alexa ranking as a norm of traffic measurement and monetization. Last year a news portal in Vietnam even posted a headline saying VnExpress in Global Top 100 Websites and near the line of CNN.com and BBC Newsline. Ironically it said Alexa was the only independent and objective ranking system of web metrics worldwide. Actually many international marketers and advertisers had left Alexa for other web metrics/analytics service such as comScore, Hitwise, Compete and Nielsen//NetRatings. Among the fierce competition, comScore had became the leader with reports can send Google' shares down significantly.

Since online advertising is emerging as an important piece of media and branding communication strategy of marketers in Vietnam, the need for more accurate web metrics is so strong and a pretty room for web analytics services. AC Nielsen Vietnam can catch up the opportunity monitoring online media landscape with its acquired services such as NetRatings, BuzzMetrics while TNS dominates old media tracking.

What about Vietnamese online publishers? Be prepared to be more transparent and look into other measurements beyond traffics such as SEO, SEM, engagement, behavioral advertising.

Search in Vietnamese with Xalo, but Can it Go Fast?

nospam@example.com (Jason) — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 10:44:59 +0200

Vinaseek, the search engine still alive from the first wave of Vietnamese Internet just returned with new brand Xalo (means highway). With new UI and features, it is not easy to see something associated with the old Vinaseek. You can use Xalo to search web, news, blog, forum. In fact Xalo is a white label product licensed from Norway's Fast Search. As an enterprise search platform users would see the results much different from Google's user friendly ones. I do not know why Tinhvan had taken so long to localise this search engine while Singapore's SPH Search had gone faster with Rednano search service. Again I still doubt the future of Xalo as in my earlier post on Vinaseek and 2008 predictions. Of course Tinhvan could provide financing for Xalo at startup stage but with less much money spending pressure than other young startups how can Xalo produce innovative products and win users' minds?

IDG Ventures Rebranding, More Money to Vietnam

nospam@example.com (Jason) — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 20:48:08 +0200

After IDG Ventures Boston broke off from its affiliation with IDG Ventures network and rebranded to Flybridge Capital Partners, IDG Chairman Pat McGovern decided to restructure the global VC network with central unit based in Boston. Former Managing Partner of Prevail Capital Steve Kahn will lead this newly created IDG Capital with main work of raising money for funds in Vietnam, India and Korea.
Quote from VentureWire:

IDG is typically the sole backer of its venture affiliates first funds. If the fund generates suitable returns to warrant a successor fund, IDGs strategy is to open up that second fund to limited partners, while committing 10% to 25% of the capital.

The company set up a $100 million fund in Vietnam in 2004, a $150 million India fund in 2006, and a $100 million Korea fund late last yearMcGovern expects IDG to establish its first fund in Eastern Europe this fall, with $150 million and an office in Warsaw; a second early-stage Vietnam fund next year with about $200 million; a second India fund with $350 million in 2010; a growth fund in Vietnam with $350 million in 2010; and a similar-sized growth fund in Korea in 2010 or 2011.

Sources: VentureWire, VentureBeat

Social Networking Services for Vietnamese Women

nospam@example.com (Jason) — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 06:34:50 +0200

One day after Yahoo announced its Shine portal for women, in Vietnam the web 2.0 startup Vinalive also stirs the social networking competition with its PhunuNet targeting dynamic Vietnamese women. It seems that PhunuNet is following the simple but successful model of iVillage.

While social networking sites are in a fierce competition seeking users and monetization with such names as Tamtay, Yobanbe, Cyworld, Zoomban etc., targeting women segment is a smart way to differentiate. PhunuNet offers useful content for womens interests, including Love & Sex, Fashion & Beauty, Health, Lifestyle, Career & Work, Entertainment & Celebrities, Travel, Cooking, Pregnancy & Babycare, Brides, Horoscope etc. It also offers social Q&A, video sharing, groups, events and blogging tools. Not just an iVillage clone, PhunuNet has good localization approach tailored to the taste of Vietnamese women. In fact PhunuNet currently looks like a content portal rather than a web 2.0 services. PhunuNet will have to improve a lot to be a good web 2.0 product rather than a women portal like it is now.

Vietnamese startups should not overlook the women segment in Vietnam, which may total 50% of Vietnamese Internet population of 20 millions. Women-oriented media channels account for the lions share of Vietnamese advertising expenses on TV and magazines. VCs are also rushing to women oriented websites in the United States. NBC Universal acquired iVillage, the most popular womens site along with its other Internet properties for $600 million in 2006.Glam Media, the number one womens property on the Net as per the latest comScore ranking raised $18.5 million in Series C funding from Duff Ackerman & Goodrich Ventures (DAG), Accel Partners, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, WaldenVC, and Information Capital (Chairman & CEO Samir Aroras fund). Glam Media had also raised $10 million in Series B led by Accel Partners with Draper Fisher Jurvetson and WaldenVC in 2004.

The question now is can VCs in Vietnam see the value of this potential segment?

April Fools' Day with StartupWear Pitch

nospam@example.com (Jason) — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 20:24:50 +0200

Following the VC Wear guys, a team just set up a StartupWear website with an amusing pitch.

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