Web 2.0 is iconic and it’s not. That’s why it’s so critical to the way CUBED ventures create value and differentiation amid a sea of Internet start-ups.
Web 2.0 is iconic because in every single industry and marketplace, Web 2.0 signals so many fundamental disruptions. Consider: Production not by centralized corporations, but by collaborative users; Consumption not by isolated consumers, but by peer networks; Distribution not by paid agents or channels, but by user advocates; Information not asymmetric in favor of a few, but real-time for all; Mobility not closed, but flowing openly across sites and networks online and off wherever people are.
The social web’s possibilities are endless. Yet in its most literal sense Web 2.0 is not iconic. It’s not about blogs, wikis, videos, pictures, mash-ups, or the latest icon-clad feature. The power of Web 2.0 is not in the wanton use of technology, but in empowering people to unite and forge ahead in our inexorable quest for progress.
So mark this out in every CUBED Venture: you will know us not by our Web 2.0 iconography, but by the humanity with which we use social networks, media and technology to create real value – and great companies – in our chosen markets.