Does anyone besides me see this use of “monetize” leading to the creation and eventual collapse of yet another tech bubble? There are plenty of software developers and start-ups working on applications with no plans yet on how to make any money from them, but the funding is there (again). When News Corp bought MySpace, it admittedly had no idea on how it was going to make money on the operation. Facebook, twitter, money pits. This is how we got into trouble the first go-round with the dot com crash of 2000. Companies with pipe-dream business plans, no viable financial plan, being funded by overzealous investment firms and VC’s, and the equity markets betting on who’s gonna be the next new thing.

Stop the madness, or at least gimme some of that VC money. :-) No, no, that’s not right. I need a bail out instead please.

I didn’t go to graduate school to try and make it rich in virtual worlds. Let me just put that statement out there. In real-life, I’m an IT operations and management specialist with 15 years of industry experience. I’ve run the full gamut of my IT career from web programmer and database administrator, to systems administrator and multi-site data center manager. I decided to get my MBA because I knew after 15 years, there were answers to questions I didn’t know. What is the business case for technology within an organization? Is technology a requirement for business, a competitive advantage, or both? Heck, I didn’t even know what questions to ask and where to begin.

I enjoy virtual reality and I’m regularly on Second Life. I’ve read the blogs on how to do business in this market space. Some were great when I first started. I see the virtual world as a new frontier, but little real-world, thought provoking business concepts applied. So I start my journey here, and I hope you’ll join me as I attempt to put my perspective on this virtual economy. I think in the beginning, I will focus more on the metaverse business environment as I know it; reviewing it, describing it, and tring to make sense of what we’re working with. But along the way, I expect to explore opportunities this environment presents to both your average and savvy business disciples like myself. Where possible, I will also add opportunities and risks for businesses at the end of each post pertaining to the topic.

If you have any suggestions for a topic, send me an email. I have a list of things to come, but your comments may change that priority. Enjoy and thanks!