Steve Gillmor on the state of things:
The emergence of RSS and its spawn podcasting, OPML, and attention have disrupted the gatekeepers of disruption economics. Given the low barrier to entry of startup/mashup economics, VCs no longer have a lock on the early stages of the value chain, putting pressure on angels and incubators to make their clout felt early enough to get a meaningful handle on the tiller. The conference game, long the mechanism whereby the VCs were schooled not in the technology but the viral marketing mechansims of startups, has been disrupted by hybrid agents TechCruch, Om Malik, Fred Wilson, and the acquisition bunnies from the majors such as Zawodny and perhaps Niall Kennedy in his new Microsoft role.
That pretty much sums things up for me. At this point, anyone trying to figure this brave new world out is already two years too late. The train has left the station. You and your agency are either on board or missed the boat. Feel free to add your own metaphors.
