With all these Web 2.0 start-ups (oh, we are one of them with transLucidonline i guess) all around it is not often to find one that is extra special.

Today I think that I found one of those gems that I am sure will not stay hidden very long. The Rubicon project is a service through which site owners can manage their advertising space. No, not only Google AdWords. About any ad/ partner network the world has to offer, currently about 300 (!) of them. And they automatically adjust which ads to show more often based on their individual performance. Coupled with a great dashboard over the ad space and earnings performance, this looks like a real killer app. Someones seems to have gotten it right.

I have immediately integrated it into our private website theandb.com and we are certainly - if these initial tests prove fruitful - going to use it for transLucidonline, the simple website publishing system, going forward. What a wonderfully painless way to manage your ad-inventory space.

Smart Mobs: Designing Business for an Open World

I got inspired by this short essay which oulines in a clear and well-illustrated way, the key drivers behind the emergent, sustainable and successful business models of today's interconnected world.

It starts with a brief historical review of the evolution of business models from the so called "Detroit model" (pyramidal, hierarchial, leveraging vertical functional processes, based on process efficiency), to the "Hollywood model" (networked project, horizontal model, multiple outsourced expertise put together , central leadership strategy and brand). And today's "internet model" which builds on open platform, cooperation and shared resources.

Then it goes on with popular examples of successful "internet models" such as the open-source champions Firefox/Linux/Apache. Or the Telecom challenger Skype, or the growing wisdom built in Wikipedia.

The authors explain how the "internet model" builds upon 3 "key dynamics " :

1. networks
2. bottom-up, emergent systems
3. cooperation

Networks are essential to enable the sourcing , finding, matching of talents, skills , expertise, ideas and passion . The networks are created through the multiple tools and collaboration platform that sprung out of the internet : IM, Social network software, video conferencing, blogging, podcasting, etc.

Emergent systems, prediction markets, smart mobs, the wisdom of crowds, recently formulated concepts based on real life success stories, to show us powerful ways to tap in the seemingly unfathomable intelligence of the collective. Like for example the very tangible value created out of rating system ( Ebay's powerseller rating, Amazon customer voting).

Cooperation in the sense of forming loosely bound team, pulling a bunch of interested parties together, sharing in risks, costs, time, resources and intelligence, to create or improve a common good or push out a big idea.

Cooperation by giving away IP or better say sharing and exposing IP, illustrated with the opening of matured platform such as the Amazon ecommerce API, Google maps API. And so many others: FlickR, Delicious, etc. which result in hundreds of Web 2.0 mash-ups. Open source development or the art of enlisting selfish interests to contribute to a common pool.

At Theandb, we are living the Internet Model, in and out. It is fascinating and quite uplifting to ride this wave. Sometime barely afloat but never out of passion, boosted by the pleasure of discovery. The way we build our partnership, the way we work remotely, the way we construct our own open-source product, weaved upon open libraries, the way we drive offshore development teams, the way we continuously invent our way into the future.

The way we proudly stand true to our motto: "consultant of compassion"

Now I'm a fan of trendwatching.com. Their monthly issues are what one might call lengthy but really allow you to keep up with the speed at which innovations are taking place. With them and Wired I feel that I can not miss anything of real importance.

Their latest issue is on branding in what they named the "Youniverse". It's simply really good at giving you an overview of the different worlds out there that people are already creating for themselves and interacting with each other in.
This coincidides well with the latest research I made on SecondLife recently. It and others are I feel at a stage in their evolution where businesses should take a closer look at them.

Theandb will buy some virtual space soon in SecondLife and see if we can use it as a collaborative space, next to Marratech - a video-collaboration/ e-meeting tool - which we are already using to keep in touch with clients abroad. Who knows... maybe branding some v-event will come next.

Have some time to spend? Then take a peek at this newsletter. The edition defines what it terms the "Generation C". And all of us are part of it, the generation which unleashes its creative potential into the world... with products such as Apples iLife suite, digital cameras, videocams, etc..

By the way; I can recommend to subscribe to this newsletter. They don't send out mails too often and it is always worth a read.