I was reading this piece of news today that got me very interested from a business point of view. Essentially, I’m sure most people are aware that there are a ton of people who use sites such as Youtube to share funny videos or even to the point where some people have made a career out of it. As well, Youtube has a system and policy where companies and studios can request that its copyrighted material be taken off if it is being used without permission. A simple example would be someone uploading a full movie as is which is technically not legal. So like that rightfully the studio can request that the content be removed.

As you may be aware, many times when you visit Youtube there are ads that you see. Usually this is a result of the person who uploaded the video partnering up with Youtube to serve ads which of course means they generate revenue from it. As you can imagine, many people like say a music artist would say no way you are making money off of our work and so often videos get taken down as a result.

However, some companies have opted to do it another way. Instead of saying they are going to take down your uploaded content that has its copyrighted material in it, they will instead just stop you from being able to profit from it. So in this case, whereas normally the revenue of the ads on the video would go to the person that uploaded the video they will now go to the company who is claiming copyright to it.

In many ways it makes sense. However, what’s interesting in this scenario I thought is that when it comes to video games a lot of these video creators try to do things such as commentary over the game that they play in an effort to make it unique. As mentioned, some people make a very good living this way. For those wondering why anyone would even watch such a thing, in many ways I guess think of it like people who find it interesting to watch other people play poker.

Just for curiosity sake I decided to upload a video to find out exactly what it is like. I basically just recorded a gameplay clip from the game and then uploaded it. Sure enough, you are then told as seen here that the content in your video matches that of the owner:

As mentioned above, some companies opt to simply remove the video completely. Instead, as seen here the company wishes the video to remain but as a result you will have advertisements in your video which they will profit from:

So the debate here that I thought that was interesting is how many people expressed actions like these discourage your users to make more videos about your product which is in a sense free advertising through social media. It’s kind of a tricky subject in this case I thought. For example, like for myself I can see why you would want to be extremely harsh if it was a movie as in those cases once people say watch the movie then they have no real need to actually buy it which means a loss in revenue. In a scenario like this though I would think regardless of how many times you watch someone else playing a game, you still need to actually buy it to get the intended experience. So if anything it is like free advertisement to encourage people to buy your product.

The other issue I was thinking of is that enforcing restrictions like these creates a perception that people are doing their job for you in terms of marketing and advertising in a forceful way. It’s like saying instead of thanking one for being a user/fan while helping to spread the word of the product they decide that you must pay them for the right to do it.

While you can probably go on for hours debating about things like “fair use” and how you could get around stuff like this, it kind of brings up the question where if you run a business and was in this scenario would you just allow your fans to do things like commentary videos without restriction as you feel the word of mouth advertising is great? Or do you feel that it’s better that you somehow directly profit from it as in the end you feel you will make more money that way?

Today I was reading about venture capitalism in general and the different approaches that some people take when it comes to funding a business or organization. The one interesting point I thought was that the ones who were most successful were the people that focused more in investing into companies they felt had a good idea and leadership as oppose to people who were so caught up in simply the numbers.

I suppose in many ways that does make sense right? It must be a lot harder too though to invest in things mostly based on if you think it will be good later as the risk is extremely high as opposed to someone that already has a good revenue flow. Then again, I guess that explains why those people are more successful in many ways financially as it’s kind of like the saying of more risk more reward. At the same time, if you are basing it on a person’s track record or leadership background then one could argue the risk should be less.

In many ways I suppose it is similar to shows like Dragon’s Den and Shark Tank where every investor seems to have a different philosophy whee it comes to investing. I would say when it comes to getting funding on the Internet with places like Kickstarter it feels like it is more a people’s platform where it seems like it’s all about the idea and the people behind it. I feel that is how it should be and we need more things like that.

This sounds kind of absurd huh? Essentially, many times when hot items come out you can usually bet there will be a massive amount of people lining up at stores during the release dates. Most people don’t want to stand at the line up for hours and so their idea is to pa someone to lineup for them. It seems this is more common now too as for many people this is like a business opportunity and so they go all out in advertising their services to do this.

While this may not be the best return on investment compared to the other things you can do to make money, for many this seems like an entry level way to test out their entrepreneurial ability to see if they can get people to pay for their services. I would be inclined in this case where instead of being the person that lines up I would have rather pre-ordered the item and then just resell it to how much you would have made as if you were lining up for it. Granted while some things stores can’t reserve for you, I think in most cases nowadays you usually can for big items at various retailers.

I was reading some comments from people that had an interesting contrast as since Christmas is coming up that usually means people will need to do a lot of shopping to find those gifts for people. Therefore, many people are hard at work in trying to find the best gifts for their loved ones. On the flip side there was a another group of people who were interested in taking advantage of the opportunities that are available such as starting a business that can capitalize on the shopping frenzy or even applying for seasonal jobs since so many companies are hiring.

Not surprisingly the first group of people were more along the lines of an everyday worker whereas the other group was more entrepreneurial. Why not use times like these as an opportunity to generate more income for yourself or possibly a way to expand your experiences? It’s during times like these where you have to take advantage of the opportunities that are out there I think if you are trying to get out of a routine and instead create bigger and better things. That doesn’t mean you can’t do the shopping of course. However, opening your mind and realizing that there are opportunities during these times too can probably be a rewarding venture.

It reminds me of the simple examples such as bottled water. For example, in the summer when the weather is hot most people would go to the beach in droves as it is a good time to be social with a lot of people while having a good time. However, other people think how can they enjoy that atmosphere and at the same time still make money? Sure enough, some people do simple things such as selling bottled water to the crowd or even taking job opportunities that are available during those times that enable them to be outside all the time. Kind of a good way to solve multiple problems with one solution too I think.

Christmas is slowly creeping up and as expected there are going to be some hot items in people’s most wanted gift list. One thing I was thinking about for example is that there is a new video game system called the Nintendo Wii-U coming out which no doubt is going to sell out on the day of its release as even per-orders are filling up quickly. This got me thinking a little as while many people will pre-order one for themselves, many people also try to pre-order more than one as the strategy is to essentially sell the second one.

What’s interesting too is that I often hear this turn into an ethics issue where people say it is wrong to buy more than one in this case as people are essentially depriving someone else the chance to get an item that is in short supply. On the flip side some say that is smart as you can essentially get enough money back if you resell it, assuming it is a hot item,which makes it as if you are saving say 50% off your purchase.

I personally don’t see it as right or wrong in this case as it’s not exactly a life essential and it is no different than anyone else trying to make money trough means such as buying cheap from a wholesaler and reselling it to make a profit. As well, if someone is willing to pay so much more is it wrong for the person to say no? I remember one funny example I saw at a mall as a person lined up to buy this new system as he pre-ordered it. Then out of the blue this lady walks up to the guy and said that she will pay him $1000 right on the spot for that system. As expected, he took the offer as the item itself was about $300 only.

In some ways I would say maybe it is good practice for anyone that is trying to be entrepreneurial. For some company’s too they don’t even expect a down payment or that it is fully refundable. So in terms of risk there isn’t really any. Like in those cases it’s one of those it doesn’t hurt to try.