Don't just read blogs, come and visit . . .

I see quite a lot of business plans and presentations from "internet" companies from outside the US (from Europe, Australia, New Zealand and SE Asia in particular). In many of those pitches, these smart entrepreneurs spend of lot of time making the case for internet business models and Web 2.0 technologies in themselves, rather than presenting a promising end-market and differentiating themselves from other solutions.

When I ask them why, they tell me that potential customers and investors at "home" are not familiar with internet based business models, never mind Web 2.0. One company was pitching the establishment of a bricks and mortar business as the primary revenue generator around a fantastic UGC  play. Perhaps a good business model, but the ides would probably not even occur to Silicon Valley-based company (maybe also a good thing).

Their potential customers and investors "don't get it"? Well that applies to 99% of the world anyway; we just don't know if it is them or us. I was able to reassure them that in Silicon Valley they would not have to explain Web 2.0.

However, it also struck me that many of these companies were unaware of competitors and trends in the market that had an immediate bearing on their business. These are internet / SaaS / Web 2.0 companies, and information flows freely around the world in their chosen industries. So why were they missing stuff?

My theory: while we all "receive the news" on news sites, blogs, or RSS, we are often missing the "spirit" of the news, the vibe, or the cultural context unless we are somehow more physically connected. Therefore, we may not be doing such a good job at parsing the information, making sense and seeing the big picture.

Silicon Valley denizens it are often accused of living within a bubble (Silicon Valley) within a bubble (California) within a bubble (the USA). However, all countries, regions, towns, industries and verticals have their own parochial bubbles. We all risk missing vital information about "over there" unless we put our feet in the water.

Bottom Line: You can read about it in blogs and RSS feeds, even visit in Second Life. But there is no substitute for being on the ground, visiting, networking, talking and soaking it in. Your business plan will be the better for it. See you soon.