Do venture capitalists know anything about VoIP? Maybe. But one clued-in PR guy/blogger suggests that the real problem is that VC's don't know much about marketing. Andy Abramson, who has seen more than his share of VoIP companies, says that "[m]ost venture-backed voice related companies are led by people how don't have a clue what it really costs to market a product or service to consumers. They have great ideas, but no experience." His point is good, but it's not like VC-backed VoIP companies are unique. Does anyone use anything other than Quicken or Quickbooks? What makes Intuit a great company is that it was founded by an ex-Procter and Gamble brand manager who instilled a customer-facing marketing ethos. VoIP technology is great. Andy's right: we still haven't seen the great marketing-driven success that the technology promises. That's not so much a failure of venture funds as it is a failure of leadership and concept.
For more information about mass marketing of VoIP:
- read this blog entry [1] from VoIP Watch
Links:
[1] http://andyabramson.blogs.com/voipwatch/2007/02/why_some_innova.html