It's Time for Facebook to Rethink Email.

I have no sense of the numbers - but the volume of 'emails' sent through Facebook's Messages platform must be a scale comparable to the bigger email hosts (ie GMail). Sure the product, the usage and the content is different - but the point remains: Facebook Messages is really, really big. As a Chat / SMS substitute (location, pictures, one-liners, etc), Facebook Messages is terrific and particularly great as a stand alone iPhone app.

But for email usage, Facebook Messages is really unusable. Why?

- Emails get lost far too quickly

- The interface is clearly aimed at SMS & feed-like interactions

- It lacks normal email activities: folders, search, stars, etc.

- It relies on notifications to drive engagement... but notifications are too transient and work great for feeds, not for email.

- It integrates nicely with Contacts and Events (two core components of email environments) - but those are again suited for social setting and not email settings.

So if Facebook created the Messages product to serve SMS & feed activities... and they built a great solution / experience for that - what am I complaining about?

Users are clearly looking for a truer email experience inside Facebook. I know this because I get dozens of emails to my Facebook account each week. In fact, I get more Messages akin to emails than I do to Chats. And I conclude the way I do on most LinkedIn messages: "Thanks! Please email me at rspoon@...com." I have to - I know it will get lost in the pile of Messages on Facebook.

That's a poor expierence and a poor outcome. Particularly considering I already have rspoon@facebook.com and would gladly create & manage an inbox (or on my iPhone, etc).

It's time to build a true email environment. Perhaps it sits beside Chat & Messages, but Facebook needs Email. Users are making due already.

MyFace. From FX's The League.

The world's first offline social network.From FX's The League. This is terrific.

Please excuse the poor quality... home video =) And please excuse some slight profanity - but still kosher for TV!

Amazon's Kindle Lending Club Makes the Already-Affordable Kindle Fire Even More Attractive

In the last month alone, I have purchased three books on the Amazon Kindle store (I use the Kindle app on the iPad)... had Amazon's new Kindle Lending Library program been live, I would have simply purchased the Kindle Fire and considered it an eventual cost-saving: - I've spent $40+ on books over the last month alone - The device itself is $199, now comes with effectively free books... and a gadget with much more

No brainer right? (big caveat: assuming content library is strong - it certainly appears to be)

And that's why Amazon is brilliant: - They changed the tablet landscape through pricing. - They used it, along with other launches, to drive Prime membership and usage. - They are now introducing a new way to deliver / consume books ... which has already happened to music (hello: Turntable.fm, Spotify, Pandora) - And yet again users have to ask if the Apple & iTunes & iBooks experience is worth paying more for than Amazon's (Kindle Fire, Kindle Store, ec)

Reflecting on Dogpatch Labs, Two Years In: 350+ Companies, $140m in Funding.

As we build out Dogpatch Labs Palo Alto and meet with potential residents, we have had the opportunity to reflect on Dogpatch Labs... which is now a little more than years old. Credit for this exercise should be given to Dave Barrett (blog here, twitter here) who wrote a great, thorough piece on BostonInnovation.com and on his blog.

I encourage you to read the articles as they do a great job explaining Dogpatch Labs' history, operations and success. I'll repurpose the highlights here...

And if you are interested in applying to any of the four Dogpatch Labs locations, please do so here.

Some interesting numbers from across the 4 Lab communities:

- To date, over 350 emerging companies have been residents.

- Right now, there are more than 70 teams in the Labs.

- Team quality has never been higher & incredibly-interesting stuff is being worked on. The waiting lists in each location range from over 60 to over 100 interested teams.

- About 100 total DPL companies — or about one third — have received funding. Rounds have ranged from $100K to $10M.

-Over $140M in capital has been invested in @dogpatchlabs companies.

- So far, 15 more companies have been acquired by the likes of Google, PayPal, Trulia, BlackHawk, Buddy Media & others.

-So far, Polaris has invested in a little over 10% the total teams funded. That ratio feels great.

Read more: on BostonInnovation.com and on his blog. Follow Dogpatch Labs: Twitter, Facebook, Blog Follow Polaris Ventures: Twitter, Facebook

Google Chrome Better Promoting Chrome Apps

Google has rolled out a new Chrome homepage that allows users to toggle between "most visited" websites and Chrome Applications. It also creates a navigational panel at the page's footer. Is there any question that Google and Chrome are focused on bolstering their app ecosystem?

With Chrome, Android, Google TV, etc - hopefully this becomes a consistent hub and apps are better shared & better accessed across device / environment (ala iCould). This is a start and is clearly demonstrates its a focus of Google's.

Facebook Rolls Out Subscribe to Comments. Improves Product and Promotes the Still-Hard-To-Find Subscribe Feature.

Facebook has begun integrating their new Subscribe functionality into Facebook Comments. It includes a small subscribe link next to each commenter's name / icon that allows in-line subscription. That does a few things: 1. It keep activity on the external site... so publishers love it. 2. It gives yet another incentive for users to comment... so readers love it. 3. And it provides more context for readers as Facebook helps sort content based on relationship, activity and 'following'.

And....

4. It is a great way for Facebook to promote the Subscribe feature which frankly is lost of Facebook.com.... findability, context and usefulness is better off-Facebook.com (just ask Twitter).

Amazon Kindle Cloud Reader

Amazon finds a promotional ad unit they like... and they stick to it. I've written before about Amazon effectively selling the "buy / create once, access anywhere" tagline. It's simple and it speaks to: Amazon being more open / compatible than most, and Amazon's content being portable - 'don't lose content you've already purchased'

Here is the promotion for the Kindle Cloud Reader - meaning purchases are accessible via browser, app, and Kindle. And the Cloud Reader itself is accessible anywhere the browser is ... in other words, everywhere:

And here is Amazon's Could Player unit:

Here is the original Kindle promotion:

ESPN's Grantland & Bill Simmons Show How Publisher Networks Can & Should Leverage Twitter

I've written a fair amount about how publishers should be better leveraging Twitter, Facebook Subscribe, and social products... and even tailored it to verticals like sports. Here is an example of good work by ESPN and their new Grantland property. It's applicable to any publisher who is a network of content producers and/or sharers... and that is the majority of all publishers.

While this is a visual example of how to connect your content producers / sharers, it is also a reminder for brands to think of themselves as a connected network of individuals whose job is, in part, to be part to build the larger entity. This in turn drives more traffic to the overarching brand and builds the individuals beneath.

How it works:

First, Grantland is a new brand / destination (85k followers) operated by ESPN and managed by uber-popular Bill Simmons (1.5m followers). Grantland content is produced by a variety of ESPN personalities, celebrities, etc... and many pieces of content are collaborations between multiple voices.

When content goes live on Grantland (and it does several times a day), all associated personalities promote it. But they do it in more effective way than just retweeting @Grantland33's post. Someone will announce the article and include the collaborator's Twitter handles. Those users then reply in a conversational - but still promotional - manner.

The result:

- Grantland and it's contributors are actually followable... if everyone was a circular retweet, this would not be the case. - Grantland got itself off the ground by leveraging larger voices like Bill Simmons and ESPN's top-level brand - It in turn promotes its contributors - Who in turn promote their associates and their brand - Everyone wins as followings grow and content is effectively shared

With $75m of Credit Card Debt Being Tracked, ReadyForZero Expands Product - Servicing Student Loan Debts, Mortages, etc

A big, important and timely update by ReadyForZero (note: portfolio company). With over $75,000,000 of credit card debts already being tracked and managed in their system, ReadyForZero today expanded their product to service other debts - including student loans, mortgages, etc. It is timely because the US will surpass $1 Trillion of unpaid student loan debt this year and as President Obama stated yesterday, “Student loan debt has now surpassed credit card debt for the first time ever."

Read more on TechCrunch and give ReadyForZero a spin at http://www.readyforzero.com.

Like Mint For People In Debt: ReadyForZero Now Supports Mortgages & Loans