At Know More Media we think PEZ are a lot like Know More Media business blogs

1. Functionality is simple
2. The PEZ dispenser (blog) doles out its candy (content) in small, microchunks
3. Tasty treats are small enough to satisfy but always leave you wanting more
4. Method of candy (content) delivery is half the fun
5. The selection of PEZ (and blog) personalities seems to have no limits
6. As good as PEZ candy (good blog content) is, you can’t help but share
7. All PEZ (blogs) are functionally the same but each has individual personality
8. PEZ (a blog) is random but unique and rarities can have tremendous value
9. Quality of candy (content) is consistent
10. There is never a bad time for PEZ (unless it is a piano recital featuring the "Waldstein" sonata – see Seinfeld episode 31)

Our adoption of PEZ as our company’s badge started when Tim used PEZ as a metaphor for Umair Haque’s concept of new media delivering microchunks of media and information.

“For example, you can read a single blog post instead of having to buy the whole newspaper to read the one article that really interests you. You can buy the one really good song that you like for your iPod, instead of having to buy the entire album or CD. You can download the only really funny comedy segment from Saturday Night Live, instead of having to watch the entire show and suffer through all the other lame or repulsive skits.  You can carry your content with you, and consume this little unbundled morsel at your choosing.”

We define PEZ and each of the Know More Media blogs as a P-ersonal E-xpression Z-one. We send each of authors a PEZ when they join Know More Media and remind them to use their unique voice in dispensing microchunks of unique and independent business news and information.

Hollywood is teetering on the edge of a precipice.  As the barriers to video-on-demand fall, as services such as YouTube catchs hold, as it becomes easier to get that movie from your Tivo or PVR onto your iPod, Hollywood will discover that consumers will continue to demand to play a hand in editing, altering, remixing, mashing up their content. Continue Reading

The business of investing capital in start-ups won’t go away just as traditional media won’t completely go away. But perhaps some unbundling of the traditional VC value will occur. Continue Reading

The Pez Dispenser is a great example of Umair Haque’s “unbundled microchunks”.

You can take several packages of pez candy, unwrap them, mix them up, load the Pez candy into the Pez dispenser and store them indefinitely.  The Pez dispenser is portable and dispenses its content upon demand of its owner.  It doesn’t dispense all of the contents at one, just in small, individual “microchunks” or pieces.

Continue Reading

Free email distribution leads to the unintended consequences of higher transaction costs for the consumer.  A Semi-Free model transfers some of that transaction cost from the consumer to the business that sends the email.  It helps, in Seth’s words, to “add friction” which raises the ROI threshold for the emailer and lowers the transaction costs for the consumer.

Continue Reading

We believe that there is a fundamental transformation of the media industry that is creating a disruption to traditional media companies and well as creating significant opportunities.  We believe that we can position Know More Media to capitalize on these opportunities. Continue Reading