硅谷風(fēng)投三劍客合體力挺谷歌眼鏡
????一身運(yùn)動(dòng)短褲短袖,一雙藍(lán)色卡洛馳(Crocs)鞋,這位谷歌(Google)聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人騎著一輛健身橢圓自行車(chē)出現(xiàn)在大家面前。這就是典型的謝爾蓋?布林就是這個(gè)樣子。和這些天他每次出現(xiàn)時(shí)一樣,他的頭上還戴著一副谷歌眼鏡(Google Glass)。這款充滿未來(lái)感的頭戴式電腦連接著一個(gè)微型顯示器。哦,他還遲到了幾分鐘。 ????當(dāng)時(shí)的場(chǎng)合是:硅谷三家大型投資公司宣布,將聯(lián)合起來(lái)吸引感興趣的創(chuàng)業(yè)家們圍繞谷歌眼鏡開(kāi)發(fā)相關(guān)產(chǎn)品和服務(wù)。盡管此時(shí)谷歌眼鏡尚未公開(kāi)發(fā)售,也沒(méi)有大范圍地向開(kāi)發(fā)人員開(kāi)放。谷歌風(fēng)投子公司Google Ventures、安德森-霍羅維茨風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資公司(Andreessen Horowitz)和凱鵬華盈(Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers)周三宣布,將建立一個(gè)聯(lián)合投資體Glass collective。這不是一個(gè)新的基金——我的同事丹?普里馬克曾作出這樣的預(yù)計(jì)——也不承諾共同投資相關(guān)交易。事實(shí)上,這意味著三家公司同意分享潛在的種子階段投資機(jī)會(huì)。如果一位基于谷歌眼鏡的創(chuàng)業(yè)者聯(lián)系到其中的一家公司,所有這三家公司都會(huì)與這位創(chuàng)業(yè)者會(huì)面,但它們會(huì)單獨(dú)決定是否向該業(yè)務(wù)投資。 ????在某種程度上,大家可以把它看成是三家大型投資公司的市場(chǎng)推廣合作,目的是盡早發(fā)掘優(yōu)秀點(diǎn)子,甚至是在點(diǎn)子還沒(méi)有孵化前就鎖定目標(biāo)。對(duì)于打算依托于谷歌眼鏡進(jìn)行創(chuàng)業(yè)的人,它傳遞的信息是:先來(lái)找我們吧?!熬W(wǎng)絡(luò)不再是在口袋里,它就在你的眼前,”凱鵬華盈的約翰?杜爾在談到谷歌眼鏡時(shí)說(shuō)?!斑@是欣賞世界的全新方式?!?/p> ????與杜爾、布林站在一起的還有安德森-霍羅維茨風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資公司的馬克?安德森和Google Ventures的比爾?瑪利斯。杜爾投資過(guò)安德森的第一家初創(chuàng)企業(yè)Netscape,也投資過(guò)布林的初創(chuàng)企業(yè)谷歌。他說(shuō),這個(gè)投資聯(lián)合體有點(diǎn)像是“原班人馬重聚”。 ????安德森稱,這個(gè)聯(lián)合體吸引他的部分因素在于它與谷歌眼鏡的并行關(guān)系。在他看來(lái),谷歌眼鏡不是一款產(chǎn)品,而是一個(gè)平臺(tái),是網(wǎng)絡(luò)瀏覽器。“將來(lái)人們能夠在這上面建立的應(yīng)用范圍之廣將難以估量,”安德森表示。他預(yù)計(jì)未來(lái)谷歌眼鏡的升級(jí)改良將呈現(xiàn)“突飛猛進(jìn)”的態(tài)勢(shì)。但即便是只看現(xiàn)有版本,谷歌眼鏡提供的平臺(tái)也已經(jīng)“非常誘人”。 ????如今的谷歌眼鏡可以通過(guò)語(yǔ)音命令和觸摸顯示屏框架來(lái)進(jìn)行操控,可以做的事不多。它可以拍照、發(fā)信息、在谷歌上提問(wèn),等等。我請(qǐng)每位演示者描述一下未來(lái)可能會(huì)有什么樣的應(yīng)用。 ????布林說(shuō),他希望能將谷歌眼鏡作為自己SLR相機(jī)的取景器,方便及時(shí)抓拍照片。早年曾從事生物科技行業(yè)的瑪利斯表示,他希望能有一些可加載實(shí)驗(yàn)方案的應(yīng)用,這樣科學(xué)家就能解放雙手用于實(shí)驗(yàn)。安德森則表示,醫(yī)療領(lǐng)域可能蘊(yùn)藏著巨大的谷歌眼鏡應(yīng)用潛力。他問(wèn)到:“如果不管遇上什么樣的醫(yī)療狀況,每位醫(yī)生或護(hù)理人員都能有一份實(shí)時(shí)的指導(dǎo)手冊(cè)來(lái)應(yīng)對(duì),結(jié)果會(huì)怎樣?” ????杜爾則希望開(kāi)發(fā)人員能創(chuàng)造更多教育領(lǐng)域的應(yīng)用,但他同時(shí)也說(shuō),對(duì)于這樣一項(xiàng)全新的技術(shù),很難預(yù)料開(kāi)發(fā)人員會(huì)著力發(fā)展哪個(gè)領(lǐng)域。他說(shuō):“它超出了過(guò)去我看到過(guò)的任何平臺(tái),我無(wú)法想象人們會(huì)拿它做些什么。”(財(cái)富中文網(wǎng)) |
????It was classic Sergey Brin. Dressed in sports shorts, an exercise shirt and blue Crocs, the Google co-founder showed up riding an elliptical bicycle, and as he does these days, wearing Glass, Google's futuristic wearable computer that fits on a head mounted display. Oh, and he was a few minutes late. ??? The occasion: An announcement that three Silicon Valley investment powerhouses are teaming up to attract entrepreneurs interested in building businesses around Glass. Never mind that Glass is not yet available to the public or to large numbers of developers. Google Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers said Wednesday that they are forming the "Glass collective." It is neither a new fund—as my colleague Dan Primack predicted—nor a commitment to co-invest in deals. Instead, it's an agreement by the three firms to share potential seed-stage investments. If a Glass entrepreneur contacts one of the firms, all three firms will get to meet her, but will decide independently whether or not to invest in the business. ??? In way, you can think of the collective as a marketing partnership by the three marquee investment firms to capture the most interesting ideas even before they are hatched. To potential Glass entrepreneurs, it says: come to us first. "The web is no longer in your pocket, it is right before your very eyes," said John Doerr, of Kleiner Perkins, in reference to Google (GOOG) Glass. "This could be a whole new way to appreciate the world." ??? Doerr and Brin were joined by Marc Andreessen, of Andreessen Horowitz and Bill Maris, of Google Ventures. And Doerr, who invested in Andreessen's first startup, Netscape, and in Brin's startup, Google, said the collective was a bit like "getting the band together again." ??? Andreessen said he was attracted to the collective, in part because of the parallels between Glass, which he described not as a product but rather as a platform, and the Web browser. "The range of applications that people can build on this thing is absolutely amazing" Andreessen said. He predicted that Glass would get better by "leaps and bounds" but said that even its first version, Glass is a "very compelling platform." ??? Today, Glass, which is operated via voice commands and by touching the display's frame, does just a few things. It can take pictures, send messages, pose qu
estions to Google, among other things. I asked each of the presenters to describe the kinds of applications that might be possible in the future potential. ??? Brin said he would like to use Glass as the viewfinder for his SLR camera in order to be able to take pictures more spontaneously. Maris, who early in his career worked in the biotechnology industry, said he would like to see applications that would load lab protocols so scientist could conduct experiments hands-free. Andreessen said healthcare was a field that could see great applications for Glass. "What if every doctor or paramedic had an instantaneous guide to deal with any medical situation," he asked. ?? ?Doerr, for his part, said he hoped developers would create applications in the education field, but said that with a technology this new, it would be difficult to predict what entrepreneurs would focus on. "More than any platform I've seen before, I can't imagine that people are going to do with this," he said. |