Reverse Auctions in Health Care: Kintan's Entrepreneurial Story

Interesting take on health care and reverse auctions - from someone who tried and believed he was too early for a market that today makes such good sense. I recently read a fascinating blog entry from Kintan Brahmbhatt (http://www.kintya.com/), a part-time tech blogger and entrepreneur whose "day job" is being a Product Manager at IMDb (Amazon.com). In this posting below, Kintan described how he and his business partner in a venture called Securamed - despite having a fantastic, award-winning business plan, were simply too early for applying the reverse auction model to the health care insurance marketplace:

The f words - fight, flee or flow

I think Kintan's post is wise on many levels. First, for all who believe that winning accolades - such as students winning business plan competitions (they won five!) - automatically translates into "real world" success, think again. As he stated, timing is indeed everything, and while they had a ground-breaking idea, the time was not right then. However,  I would follow-up by saying that having spoken with many leaders in the areas of health care, business, and government in recent months, the time is precisely right now for such innovative ideas - and reverse auctions appear to be perfectly poised to fight the ever-spiraling costs in health care today.

Good luck Kintan and too all aspiring entrepreneurs in the health care area - we need every good idea out there to be tested and tried in order for insurers, businesses, and governments at all levels to continue to be able to provide the level of health care benefits and availability we have become accustomed to in the United States!

David

From the Reverse Auction Research Center: http://reverseauctionresearch.blogspot.com/

++++++++++++++++++++++

James Carville: Louisiana needs justice now

Great local take on the oil spill crisis from James Carville - who seems to be the most consistently strident advocate we have right now for Louisiana in the middle of the media firestorm over the BP mess. From the Baton Rouge Advocate:

Read:
2theadvocate.com | News | Carville: La. needs justice now — Baton Rouge, LA

and watch:


I don't think he's going anywhere! Thanks for grabbing the camera and microphone for us wherever you can!

David

++++++++++++++++++++++

B2B Spending on Social Media to Explode

The Latest from eMarketer

B2B Spending on Social Media to Explode

JUNE 1, 2010

Businesspeople are people too

Despite social media marketing’s sizable popularity, business-to-business (B2B) companies are still fairly new to the discipline. According to a November 2009 survey from Business.com, 73% of B2B respondents who were using social media had less than two years of social media marketing experience.

But now that social media has caught on in the sector, spending forecasts suggest that big increases are coming.

“B2B participation in social media marketing is steadily increasing, and marketers are beginning to see opportunities to generate quality leads and position themselves as thought leaders in their industries,” said eMarketer’s Evelyn Jung, author of the new report “B2B Social Media Marketing Heats Up.”

Outsell estimates that marketing on social networks will grow 43.3% in 2010.Forrester Research predicts that B2B firms will spend $54 million on social media marketing in 2014, up from just $11 million in 2009.

Paid advertising on social networks—banners, text ads and search advertising, as well as the more targeted advertising being deployed by Facebook and MySpace—is a small portion of B2B marketers’ social spending.

When companies budget for social media marketing in 2010 and beyond, a substantial portion of their expenses will go toward other initiatives, such as creating and maintaining a branded profile page, managing promotions or public relations outreach within a social network, and measuring the effect of a social network presence on brand health and sales.

In 2009, B2B marketers spent the largest portion of their social media budgets on customer communities, followed by podcasts and blogs. These tactics allow B2B marketers to share more relevant product or service information with their customers than they could with other social tools.

“B2B companies tend to have longer and more complicated messages to convey, and these longer-form tactics enable them to position themselves as thought leaders with their customers,” Ms. Jung said.

---

The full report, “B2B Social Media Marketing Heats Up,” also answers these key questions:

• How quickly is social media marketing growing in the B2B space?
• How are B2B marketers using social media?
• How is B2B social media marketing different from B2C marketing?
• Are B2B marketers measuring the success of their social media programs?

To purchase the report, click here. Total Access clients, log in and view the report now.

++++++++++++++++++++++

Wal-Mart markdowns are sparking price wars

"Mr. Rollback" is certainly becoming more aggressive - as Wal-Mart is making an adept marketing effort to capitalize on the Great Recession and appeal to cost-conscious shoppers (and aren't we all these days). Good, brutal show of force by the leading retail giant!

Wal-Mart markdowns are sparking price wars - Retail - msnbc.com


David http://wyld-business.blogspot.com/

++++++++++++++++++++++

Nuke the Oil Spill?

Image via Wikipedia

Maybe BP should think of letting the U.S. military use the "ultimate solution" for destroying the oil well - interesting expert analysis here on why nuking the oil well might be the best way to end the oil spill debacle!

Read Nuke the Oil Spill - The Daily Beast

David

Related articles by Zemanta

• Enough already. Nuke Gulf oil spill, says expert (thestar.com)
• Nuke the Gulf oil leak? (boingboing.net)
• Today's Headlines for 5/24/2010 from Democracy Now (grantlawrence.blogspot.com)
• What if there is no oil spill fix? (beliefnet.com)
• Dr. Sludgelove: Or How I Learned To Stop Junk Shotting And Love Teh Bomb (emptywheel.firedoglake.com)
• Can we just blow up the oil well in the Gulf and be done with it? (americablog.com)
• Now Nukes? Wake Up Democrats. (bradblog.com)
• Now That 'Top Kill' Failed, How Do We Stop the Oil Leak? [Ideas] (gawker.com)
• August Crude (burningbird.net)
• Is it Time to Nuke the Oil Well? (bilerico.com)

var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www.");
document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));

Gulf Oil Spill May Hit Mississippi and Alabama Beaches This Week

Yep, once the oil hits en masse outside Louisiana, this will unfortunately make this a national problem. Time to take action - read:

Gulf oil spill could hit Alabama, Mississippi coast



David

++++++++++++++++++++++

Not!: BP chief exec disputes oil plumes claims

Image via Wikipedia

Really, BP??? All I can say is we spent the night last night in Daphne, Alabama (Mobile Bay) coming home from the beach, and the hotel is full of BP workers and federal workers from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. If they don't think the oil is coming here, then why is there a huge conference room full of maps, animal nets and carrying cages, and enough Gatorade to sustain them for weeks. Think this says far more than any BP exec's denials.

Read
2theadvocate.com | News | BP chief exec disputes oil plumes claims — Baton Rouge, LA

But, believing my own eyes!

David

Related articles by Zemanta

• BP CEO disputes claims of underwater oil plumes (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• BP exec says oil company learned from failures (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• BP Exec Says Oil Company Learned From Failures (abcnews.go.com)
• Officials: Oil leak may last months (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Deepwater mystery: Oil loose in the Gulf (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• BP Official Says Gas Plume Developed Before Rig Blast (Update1) (businessweek.com)
• BP: Top-kill attempt could take all weekend; Gulf oil spreading much farther than thought (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• BP exec says end point for leak is relief well (sfgate.com)
• BP CEO disputes claims of underwater oil plumes (sfgate.com)
• Underwater Oil Plumes Disputed By BP CEO Tony Hayward (huffingtonpost.com)

++++++++++++++++++++++