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Microsoft’s GitHub takeover sends shockwaves through the open-source developer ecosystem - SiliconANGLE

Microsoft’s GitHub takeover sends shockwaves through the open-source developer ecosystem - SiliconANGLE

siliconangle.com

• Microsoft promises to keep GitHub independent and open, TechCrunch
• “Devs are flooding to GitLab amidst Github Microsoft acquisition rumors”, TNW
• Right to be scared? Probably. Everyone knows how Ellison and Oracle screwed up Java PLUS endless lawsuits against Google and Android.
• Does Google, Facebook... YOU have a plan B?

Today, Microsoft Corp. announced an agreement to acquire San Francisco-based open-source development community GitHub Inc. for $7.5 billion.

Be that as it may, there is also a strong likelihood that Microsoft, based on its public statements so far, will take the following next steps once it completes its acquisition of GitHub:

• Move hosting of GitHub from Amazon Web Services to its own Azure cloud computing infrastructure;
• Position GitHub as a strategic onramp to its Azure public cloud infrastructure;
• Introduce DevOps tools to accelerate code deployment from GitHub repos to Azure;
• Provide a transparent handoff for developers navigating between the Visual Studio Code and GitHub experiences;
• Ramp up marketing of Azure and other Microsoft offerings through GitHub;
• Rapidly integrate LinkedIn with GitHub in order to grow the Azure developer ecosystem; and
• Converge GitHub’s Electron cross-platform development framework with Microsoft’s own Blazor open-source technology for progressive Web apps.

• Microsoft Is Said to Have Agreed to Acquire GitHub (bloomberg.com)
• Microsoft acquires Github (microsoft.com) 
• Hello, GitHub - Nat Friedman MS Exec is the new GitHub CEO
• Microsoft Is Buying GitHub. Now It Has to Convince GitHub’s Users to Trust It., Slate

Medium says it can’t make money selling ads so it’s laying off a third of its staff

Medium is laying off 50 people and changing its business model.

www.recode.net|Kurt Wagner

That’s about one third of the company’s employees.

In a blog post shared on Wednesday, Williams said he wants to move away from ad-supported content, which is how most stuff on the internet generates revenue. Williams described that business model, which is almost entirely dependent on clicks and views, as a “broken system.”

“The vast majority of articles, videos, and other ‘content’ we all consume on a daily basis is paid for  —  directly or indirectly —  by corporations who are funding it in order to advance their goals,” Williams wrote. “And it is measured, amplified, and rewarded based on its ability to do that. Period. As a result, we get … well, what we get. And it’s getting worse.”

So if ad-supported content is no good, what will Medium do instead? Williams hasn’t decided.

Meet the China ‘whisperers’ who get the big deals done in Silicon Valley

Behind the scenes, these are the people who bridge two powerful worlds.

www.washingtonpost.com

Negotiating a joint venture is one of the trickiest aspects of working with Chinese investors. In the last three years, Chinese regulations and practices have made it more complicated for U.S. companies to do business there, Chang says.

For that reason, startups usually enter the market in the form of a partnership. Today, these partnerships are often based in the Cayman Islands because China doesn’t allow foreign ownership of companies. In negotiations, for example, Chinese partners often insist that the data of Chinese citizens cannot be stored on U.S. servers and that legal disputes must be settled in Chinese or Hong Kong courts. Previously, arbitration in Santa Clara County was a sticking point for U.S. companies; now that battle has largely been lost, she says.

Brokers say that sometimes misperceptions arise because business culture in China is so different. In China, where there’s less rule of law and a powerful government relentlessly pushing for growth, brass-knuckled tactics are far more common. Taking ideas from a company you invest in and giving them to another is more acceptable, for example.

Chang says she has been able to be effective, in part, because she makes a point of never questioning anyone’s honesty or integrity; acting suspicious can deeply offend people and escalate conflict. In any deal, she coaches both sides to be aware of the messages they are projecting.

“I’ve told U.S. companies, Chinese people have long memories and are the ultimate repeat players, so don’t play any games,” she says. “And I’ve tried to tell the Chinese investors coming the Valley today that they are making their reputation as they go along, so they should be very thoughtful and careful about what they do.” She also only does business with people she knows well.

As one of our partners who recently had a baby observes here: It’s almost like doing a health check for your baby at the pediatrician’s office. Check weight and height, and then compare to previous estimates to make sure things look healthy before you go any deeper!

Business and Financial Metrics

#1 Bookings vs. Revenue

#2 Recurring Revenue vs. Total Revenue

• ARR (annual recurring revenue) 
• ARR per customer 
• MRR (monthly recurring revenue) 

#3 Gross Profit

#4 Total Contract Value (TCV) vs. Annual Contract Value (ACV)

• TCV (total contract value) 
• ACV (annual contract value) 

#5 LTV (Life Time Value)

#6 Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) vs. Revenue

• GMV (gross merchandise volume)
• Revenue 

#7 Unearned or Deferred Revenue … and Billings

#8 CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost) … Blended vs. Paid, Organic vs. Inorganic

Product and Engagement Metrics

#9 Active Users

#10 Month-on-month (MoM) growth

#11 Churn

There’s all kinds of churn — dollar churn, customer churn, net dollar churn — and there are varying definitions for how churn is measured.

• Gross churn 
• Net churn 

#12 Burn Rate

• Monthly cash burn 
• Net burn 
• Gross burn 

#13 Downloads

Presenting Metrics Generally

#14 Cumulative Charts (vs. Growth Metrics)

#15 Chart Tricks

#16 Order of Operations