'Learn to fail elegantly' says Creative Commons CEO, Joichi Ito

Joichi Ito's many business ventures - as an investor, an entrepreneur and as CEO of Creative Commons - are all about connecting people

Serial entrepreneur and investor Joichi Ito believes in perseverance.

"Every single company I did failed," he says of his first ten years as an entrepreneur and investor.
But despite a number of setbacks, he has since launched or invested in a string of successful technology companies.

His venture capital fund Neoteny Labs looks for opportunities in Asia and beyond. And Mr Ito is also CEO of Creative Commons, a non-profit organisation which has the goal of "making it easier for people to share and build upon the work of others, consistent with the rules of copyright".
Joichi Ito was born in Japan and educated in the US. While studying at the University of Chicago, he became involved in the city's club scene.

"I was learning a great deal just working and hanging out in the nightclub," he recalls. "I realised that in the sort of working-class community of the nightclubs there was a lot of very interesting stuff going on… The communities, people caring for each other."

The discovery prompted him to question the value of this studies. He says the "homogenous group of students focused on one thing" meant that he "[wasn't] really learning very much and it wasn't particularly exciting."
"People and communities and networks are what I'm interested in," he explains.
After leaving university Mr Ito worked as a DJ and then a journalist but says he "switched quickly" to technology entrepreneurship once he realised that "the internet was really all about connecting people."
Patents As a venture capitalist, Joichi Ito is very specific about the type of companies he invests in.
He favours businesses operating in areas where patents are not always necessary, such as the internet. According to Mr Ito, the high costs of patents mean that smaller companies can rarely afford them, leaving them at risk of being sued.

Joichi Ito CEO, Creative Commons

He believes that even the ownership of one patent is no protection when faced with a patent litigation from a larger corporation possessing many patents in that area.

"Patents are like land mines," he says. "In an area where I see lots of patents, I'm going to be careful about any company in that space."
He has chosen to invest in online services such as Twitter and Flickr and says that online success is more about exploiting the flexibility of networks to promote a product than it is about the product itself.
He gives examples of two companies he didn't invest in which are successful: "YouTube had a relationship and it figured out how to connect into MySpace… PayPal figured out a way to connect into eBay… It's strategic."
Freedom to create Joichi Ito is critical of modern ways of communicating ideas.
The CEO of Creative Commons believes the many tools in place to protect creators often act as barriers to future innovation.
"There are certain benefits to copyrights and patents and providing an incentive for people to invest in research. But at the same time… most ideas actually increase in value as they're spread." The internet is symbolic of this according to Mr Ito.

Many Flickr users make their work available under Creative Commons licenses

"If you look at the Internet from a technical perspective…you have the network and then you have the web," he says. "They're based on these open standards that allow interoperability and people to participate without asking permission, people to innovate without asking permission. "
"And they've created explosions of innovations for things that we couldn't anticipate."
He says the aim of Creative Commons is to make it easier for people to collaborate. "It's a tool that allows you to legally use copyright without having to hire a lawyer each time to craft a contract when you're trying to share" .
Failure Joichi Ito was an entrepreneur before he started investing. He says modestly, "we only talk about our successes but there are probably ten times as many failures that I've started."
But Mr Ito believes the setbacks were crucial to his success as an investor. "I think it's essential for any investor to have been an entrepreneur. I think it's important that you understand that perspective."
One of the most important lessons he learnt was to fail "elegantly."
In fact the angel investor now spots employees from ailing companies. "People who have survived failures are just…worth their weight in gold," he explains.
"Whenever I see a company fail, the first thing I do is I go in and I look for those people who did a good job through that failure and I immediately recruit them."
And Joichi Ito is used to looking for opportunities in places where others might not look.
"I believe in serendipity," he says. "If you plan everything you can't be lucky."

DYNAMIX AWARDS 2010

The recent edition of the Dynamix All Youth Award presented another opportunity for Nigerian youths to be recognized for their efforts in different fields of endeavour.  The award ceremony took place on 21st December, 2010 at the Eko Hotels & Suites with over 2000 students from different Nigerian universities including the Universities of Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Benson Idahosa University, Lead City University and Igbinedion University in attendance. The awards started with an interesting red carpet session with Mo’Cheddah and Jesse Jags as the hosts.

Hakeem The Dream was the first performer of the night, and he thrilled the audience with the performance of his popular single, Dey Dere. Yemi Alade’ s beautiful rendition of a Christmas carol was next, and Whizkid stole the show with his performance, proving to all – with his songs and stage presence – that there is a significant place for him in the Nigerian music industry.

The Kennis Music group mesmerized the audience, particularly with Yinka Adefemi’s acapella rendition of Never Felt a Love, which was a favourite with the ladies. Yinka also rendered a single of his own, Money Money Money. Goldie and her troupe of dancers performed next, with Jaywon drawing the Kennis music crew performances to a close. Jaywon’s hit track, moved the crowd so much that the students reacted by ‘spraying’ him with money.

Comedians Seyi Law and Bash kept the audience laughing with rounds of jokes. There were several other performers for the night, including Skales, Lynxx, Whizkid, Dotstar, Tha Suspect and Ill-Bliss. Ice Price performed his hit track, Oleku to a very excited audience, and Mo’Cheddah, Tiwa Savage, Skuki, Jesse Jags and MI shone like a thousand stars.

Keke and D1 of Primetime Africa and Don Jazzy of Mo’ Hits Crew were present to lend their support to the Dynamix Awards team. Don Jazzy generously presented the sum of N250, 000 to the winner of the ‘Most Intelligent’ award category.

The breakdown of the various categories and their winners are as follows:

Favourite Movie Act of the Year – Tonto Dike

Comedian of the Year – Ovie

Best New Artiste – Mo’Cheddah

Most Promising Artiste – Whizkid

Song of the Year – Fi Mi Le, KAS

Role Model in Sport – Obafemi Martins

Role Model in Music Production – Don Jazzy

OAP of the Year – Toolz of the Beat FM

TV Presenter of the Year – VIXEN of STV

Most Intelligent Student – Enioda Joshua,  (University of Lagos)

Best Entertainment Promoter, Diaspora – Tiwa works (USA)

Best Youth Hangout – Rehab

Most Enterprising – G12

Study: iPad and Kindle Can Coexist

The debut of the iPad a year ago was speculated to be the death knell for e-readers like the Kindle. But a new study by JP Morgan reports that the iPad is not actually a Kindle killer.
According to the study, 40 percent of iPad owners also own a Kindle, and another 23 percent of iPad owners plan on buying one in the next 12 months, which seems to defy the theory that the iPad's introduction would put an end to the demand for Amazon's less flashy and more functional e-reader.
The Kindle is, in fact, alive and well. This holiday season, the third-generation Kindle usurped Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows to become Amazon's best-selling product of all time, with roughly 9 million Kindles sold worldwide. The study shows that Amazon's aggressive advertising has paid off. It reports that while the iPad's brand awareness is 84 percent, the Kindle comes in close behind at 76 percent, while Barnes & Noble's Nook e-reader trails far behind with 45 percent.
In reality, the iPad and the Kindle are two very different devices. The Kindle has found a niche with bookworms who use the device for convenience. While half the people surveyed read zero to ten books per year, 16 percent read more than 25 books per year. At the relatively low price of $139, these book lovers often opt for the Kindle over the $499 iPad, which touts its e-reader function as merely one of many of its features and is less convenient to carry around.

Dilma Rousseffsworn in as Brazil'snew president

Dilma Rousseff has been sworn
in as Brazil's first woman
president, succeeding Luiz
Inacio Lula da Silva, the most
popular leader in the country's
history.
Ms Rousseff, 62, who has never
held elected office, has pledged
to follow the path set by
President Lula.
He was constitutionally barred
from seeking a third consecutive
term.
Brazil's economy has grown
strongly but it remains one of the
most unequal societies in the
world.
Ms Rousseff was appointed
energy minister in President
Lula's government in 2003 and
served as his chief of staff from
2005 to 2010.
She was elected in October,
defeating the opposition
candidate Jose Serra by 56% to
44% in a run-off vote.
She is known to favour a strong
state role in strategic areas,
including banking, the oil
industry and energy.
She has also promised to tackle
Brazil's complicated tax system.
Strong growth
Ms Rousseff's inauguration
ceremony at the Brazilian
Congress began with a ride
through the capital, Brasilia, in a
Rolls-Royce. Rain prevented the
vehicle's roof from being
opened.
In her oath, she promised to
maintain and defend the
constitution, observe the law,
promote the wellbeing of the
Brazilian people, and sustain the
union, integrity and
independence of Brazil.
She will later join Mr Lula at the
presidential palace, where he will
drape her in the green-and-gold
Brazilian sash of office.
Ms Rousseff, a former Marxist
rebel who was imprisoned for
three years in the early 1970s for
resisting military rule, has
promised to protect freedom of
expression and worship, and to
honour the constitution.
The BBC's Paulo Cabral, in Sao
Paulo, says Ms Rousseff faces
significant challenges, public
health, education and improving
the country's infrastructure.
Brazil's economy is estimated to
have grown by 8% in 2010.
However, the currency, the real,
has risen so high that it is now
making Brazil's exports less
competitive.
During his two terms as
president from 2002, 30 million
people were lifted out of poverty
- a major reason for his status as
Brazil's most popular president,
our correspondent says.
During President Rousseff's term,
Brazil will host the Rio Plus 20
global environmental summit in
2012; the Fifa World Cup in 2014;
and the Summer Olympics in
2016.
Dilma Rousseff
sworn in as Brazil's
new president
President Rousseff vowed to
sustain the union, integrity and
independence of Brazil
Tough tasks ahead
for Dilma
Lula's enduring
legacy
A vote for
continuity?
Expert views:
Brazil's challenges
Rain prevented the roof of Ms
Rousseff's open-top Rolls Royce
from being opened

Opera’s Co-Founderon Extensions,Competition, WebTVs and More

2010 has been a great year
for Opera Software. Earlier in
the year, we saw Opera Mini
for iPhone dominating the
App Store charts soon after
its release. Opera also
expanded to the Android
platform and launched
Opera Mini followed by
Opera Mobile in the Market.
On the desktop front, Opera
kicked off the year with the
launch of Opera 10.5 and
finished it off with Opera 11.
Opera Software was formally
founded in 1995 by Jon
Stephenson von Tetzchner
and Geir Ivarsøy. After nearly
15 years at the helm,
Tetzchner stepped down as
the CEO of the company
earlier this year. Recently,
Tetzchner was in India to
meet with the fans. During
his visit, he was kind enough
to answer my questions in
an email interview.
Me: While I am absolutely
thrilled with extensions for
Opera 11, I have to ask:
What took Opera so long?
Did Chrome’s success
influence Opera’s decision to
implement extensions in
anyway?
JVT: When it comes to
extensions we believe as a
company that it is important
to ensure that the browser
that you get out of the box is
rich and has a lot of
functionality. With focus on
web based extensions we
feel that there is a closer
match with our focus on
standards, and we felt the
time was right to launch
extensions with Opera 11.
We have also focused on
features such as widgets
and unite – which allow
developers to develop on the
outside of the browser,
which we have found to be
important for sustainability
of the web as we know it.
Me: Are you using any
extension? If yes, what is
your favorite extension?
JVT: Personally I am not
using a lot of extensions, I
have tried a number of them
but for the most part I feel
my needs are covered with
all the other functionalities
that Opera has to offer.
It has to be said that
extensions are about the
long tail that people need.
Me: In spite of being
(arguably) the most
innovative browser, Opera
has had little success in
expanding its desktop
marketshare. Currently about
fifty million people browse
using Opera on their
computer and this number
has remained stagnant for a
while. In fact, the Q3 2010
report suggests that Opera
lost some users during this
year. Why do you think that
Opera is struggling to get a
significant number of new
users?
JVT: Opera during the last
few years has had a
significant growth in
number of users. We now
have over 150 million users
worldwide across our
desktop and mobile
browsers. The growth in
past one year is very
promising and we hope to
continue this trend by
coming-up with innovative
features and products.
Me: If you were asked to use
any browser other than
Opera for 24 hours, which
browser would you pick and
why?
JVT: There can only be one
browser for me i.e. the
Opera browser
Me: Do you subscribe to the
notion that in the future the
browser will make operating
systems irrelevant?
JVT: I would not say
irrelevant – the operating
system continues to be
important.
I always ask a question
during my talks “how many
native applications are you
using on your PC?”. The fact
that typically 5% or less are
using 5 applications or more
indicates that already the
browser is the most
important tool on your
computer and most of the
time is spent in the browser.
We are seeing that the
browser has become the
most important aspect of the
computing experience.
Me: Earlier in the year, the
browser ballot screen went
live in Europe. After nine
months, have you noticed
appreciable changes in the
browser usage patterns in
Europe?
JVT: Clearly what we have
seen is a continuous fall in
the number of Internet
Explorer users and users
have increased for
competing browsers
including Opera.
Me: One of the things Opera
complained about is
Microsoft’s reluctance to
support web standards.
What is your impression of
Internet Explorer 9? Do you
think Microsoft has made
amends?
JVT: We are seeing Microsoft
working hard on improving
their standards support and
we applaud that. They are
still trailing the competition
but are moving in the right
direction.
Me: In 2004, Opera
extracted a settlement out of
Microsoft for deliberately
crippling MSN on Opera.
Unfortunately, the practice
persists till date with the big
three (Google, Microsoft and
Yahoo) often using browser
sniffing to offer an inferior
version of their products to
Opera users. Why do you
think this is the case?
JVT: First thing on the
settlement – there was no
settlement. Microsoft fixed
their site. This is where we
had the Bork edition of
Opera and we got them to
fix their site.
I think browser sniffing is a
bad thing in general. But we
are also seeing that more of
the sites are focusing on
web standards and that will
continue.
Me: Your vision of “One
Web” has won. WAP is dead,
and mobile web usage is
exploding. What’s next for
mobile web?
JVT: Exploding some more.
I think in many ways there
are so many people who do
not have Internet access
today. There are two billion
people with internet access
and there are one and half
billion phones. The trend
that we will see is that
mobile users will most likely
outnumber PC users in a
year’s time. This will have a
significant impact on the
web as we know it and a
very positive one.
Going ahead, please look out
for Televisions, Set top
boxes, cars and other
devices getting online as
well.
Me: The Register claimed
that “Opera holds the web’s
most valuable secret” thanks
to its massive data cache
(due to the combination of
Opera Mini and Opera
Turbo). Is Opera looking at
ways to monetize this
information?
JVT: We value our customer’s
privacy extremely. So
overstepping any kind of
boundaries there is out of
question.
We are clearly looking at
ways where we can help
enable relevant
advertisement on the mobile
through our purchase of
AdMarvel. We announced the
Open Mobile Ad Exchange
and as part of that we can
target people. But we don’t
want to target anywhere not
close to comfort. Typically
the kind of targeting will be
based on device type and
location on a very broad
scale.
Me: What is the Opera
“Bream” UI mentioned
during Capital Markets Day?
JVT: If you look at the
different Opera versions on
different phones you will see
a lot of similarities. It’s
because the user interface is
written in the Bream
language, allowing us very
quickly to deploy Opera on
new platforms.
This allows us to spend
more time on making a
great user experience and
less time on actually develop
specifically for one platform.
Me: Opera also has some
interesting offerings for
connected TVs. How is it
different from the new
Google TV? How has the
reception been from the
device manufacturers?
JVT: The response has been
great. We have been signing
up a lot of device
manufacturers including
brand names such a Philips,
Toshiba, Lowe, etc. We are
also working closely with the
operators and are seeing
significant increase in
deployments. We believe that
in the next few years
internet technologies on
television will become a big
hit.
Me: Earlier in the year, you
stepped down as the CEO of
Opera. What prompted the
change? As a co-founder
what are your current
responsibilities within the
company?
JVT: I have run Opera for 15
years. I think it is important
that for a great company you
have to be able to handle
change. Personally I wanted
to focus more on the tasks
that I like and slightly less on
the tasks that I like less. So I
decided that I wanted to
have Lars, whom I trust, to
take over the role as CEO.
Me: Soon after Lars Boilesen
stepped in, Opera India was
practically shut down, and
the entire engineering
department was axed. Even
more surprisingly, the entire
thing happened in a
secretive manner without a
public announcement. What
went wrong?
JVT: The decision to close an
office that and let people go
is always a tough one.
At the same time, it is
difficult to maintain and
control a faraway office as it
requires quite a lot of
resources. The assessment
from the team was that they
wanted to reduce the
complexity of operations
that arrive from having
multiple offices and they
moved the work to
development centers closer
to Oslo.
Obviously it was not an easy
decision to make.
Me: Were any other Opera
Software offices downsized/
closed?
JVT: The company is
continuing to grow. For the
India office, rationale was
about moving this operation
to Poland to reduce the
complexity.
When it comes to others the
rationale was that we are
doing more standardized
products and less custom
work.
Me: What is your perception
of India with respect to its
engineering talent pool?
JVT: India certainly is a great
resource of engineering
talent. We have a number of
Indians working in our
global offices handling
important portfolios.
Me: Opera Software is more
than 15 years old. Looking
back, is there anything that
you wish you/Opera
Software had done
differently?
JVT: There are always
choices. But I think it is
important to not dwell on
hindsight but still try to use
the learning’s from the past
while moving forward. And
that’s what we’ve tried to do.
All the choices we made that
in hindsight we wished we
had done differently – try to
rather use that as a positive
impulse for moving forward.
Me: What does the coming
year hold for Opera?
JVT: The goal for Opera has
to be to continue the great
growth that we have been
seeing all around during the
last couple of years. We have
tripled our overall user base
– combining desktop, mini
and mobile. In the beginning
of 2009 we were 50 mn
users and now we are 150
mn active users. So it is a
significant growth, a growth
that I believe is important to
continue to have and even
increase. To do this we need
to focus on the end users,
providing them with better
user experience.
Focusing on improving the
product for end users on
different devices in different
markets.

African elephant istwo species,researchers say

Genetic researchers may have
resolved a long-standing
dispute by proving there are
two species of African elephant.
Savannah and forest elephants
have been separated for at least
three million years, they say, and
are as distinct from each other as
Asian elephants are from the
extinct woolly mammoth.
The researchers also made what
they say are the first sequences
of nuclear DNA from the extinct
American mastodon.
The study is reported in the
journal Public Library of Science
Biology.
The debate over whether the
African elephant is one or two
species has been going on for
about a decade.
Weighing in at six or seven
tonnes, the much larger
elephants found on savannah are
about twice as heavy as forest-
dwellers.
This, along with other
differences in size and shape,
has led some researchers to
conclude there are two species -
the savannah (or bush) elephant,
Loxodonta africana, and the
forest species, Loxodonta
cyclotis.
The scientists - from the US, UK
and Germany - now say they
have proved the case.
"The divergence of the two
species took place around the
time of the divergence of the
Asian elephant and woolly
mammoths," said Michi Hofreiter,
a specialist in ancient DNA at the
UK's York University.
"The split between African
savannah and forest elephants is
almost as old as the split
between humans and
chimpanzees. This result amazed
us all."
Ancient and modern
The researchers compared
sequences of DNA from the
nuclei of African and Asian
elephants, and from woolly
mammoths and the American
mastodon.
All are members of the
Proboscidea order of mammals.
The mastodon became extinct
about 10,000 years ago - around
the same time that mammoths
disappeared from most of their
range.
Although mastodon
mitochondrial DNA has been
sequenced before, the
researchers say they were the
first to do the analysis on DNA
from the cell nucleus - in this
case, using material from a tooth.
"Experimentally, we had a major
challenge to extract DNA
sequences from two fossils -
mammoths and mastodons - and
line them up with DNA from
modern elephants over hundreds
of sections of the genome," said
Nadin Rohland of Harvard
Medical School.
The genetic "distance" between
the Asian elephant and the
woolly mammoth turned out to
be about the same as between
the two African elephant species
- which, the researchers say,
proves the case for two distinct
species in Africa now.
Fragmented world
The picture of elephant
conservation across Africa is a
mixed one.
In southern countries, the
animals are thriving, with
populations increasing so fast
that governments have had to
consider culls.
However, the picture is very
different in Central and West
Africa, where poaching, ivory
smuggling and the bushmeat
trade are fragmenting
populations.
If there are indeed two species,
the forest dwellers are the ones
most under pressure, as they
tend to be found in areas where
poaching and smuggling are rife.
Potentially, confirming the
separation could help direct
conservation efforts where they
are most needed, according to
Simon Stuart, chair of the
International Union for the
Conservation of Nature's Species
Survival Commission (SSC).
"We'd have to review the
evidence to see whether we
need to split the African elephant
into two entries on the Red List
of Threatened Species," he told
BBC News.
"Currently the species is listed as
Vulnerable but it's possible that if
there are two, one would come
out in a more serious category
and the other in a less serious
one.
"This could be helpful for
highlighting the Central African
issue."
However, he cautioned, other
research groups may well
challenge the conclusion of the
latest study, and the debate may
have some way to run.
African elephant is
two species,
researchers say
By Richard Black
Environment correspondent, BBC
News
Poaching is a major concern in
parts of Africa - especially of
forest elephants
Related stories
Elephant damage
'good for frogs'
Crime rings boost
ivory smuggling
Ivory bids fall on
poaching fears
The species is listed
as Vulnerable but
it's possible that if
there are two, one
would come out in
a more serious
category”
Simon Stuart
IUCN
The researchers say they have
also done the first nuclear
genetic analysis of the American
mastodon

Google Hires Kenyan Activist toShape Africa Policy

Kenyan Blogger Ory Okolloh has
been hired by Google to oversee
that company's policy in Africa.
Most people outside the
continent imagine Africa as
being the size of a France or
two. ( In reality it's the size of the
U.S., China, Japan and most of
Europe.) So it's a big job for a big
company that has big plans over
a big area of the world.
Okolloh seems like a good
candidate to handle such a job. A
Harvard-educated attorney, she
was involved in the global
blogging project Global Voices
early on and is the co-founder of
crisis mapping outfit Ushahidi
and a TED Fellow. She steps
down from Ushahidi as
Executive Director to take the
Google job.
On her blog, Okolloh described
the new position of Policy
Manager for Africa.
"The role will involve developing
policy (and) strategies on a
number of areas of relevance to
Google and the Internet in Africa
and will involve working with
different parties including
government leaders, policy
makers, regulators, industry
groups and so on. It is a huge
opportunity to bring Google's
resources to bear as far as the
growth and development of the
internet in Africa (and hopefully
a reminder of why I went to law
school in the first place!)."
Jon Gosier, Director of Product
for SwiftRiver at Ushahidi told us
he thinks Okolloh might help
make Google's actions on the
continent more coherent.
"Google Africa hasn't really been
as focused as it has been in
other parts of the world. I think
hiring Ory is the right move as
she's a lawyer, so she
understands the policy side of
things, but she also founded and
ran a technology company for
three years. There isn't a better a
choice for the position, although
it's bittersweet to lose one of my
colleagues."
Okolloh told ReadWriteWeb she
would be based in
Johannesburg, RSA, starting in
mid-January, with a portfolio
that includes the whole of sub-
Saharan Africa.
"Overall, I'll be working to get
more people online and policies
favorable to that, also (cultivate)
support for local content and an
environment which supports
innovation."