The title of the panel asking “When will it take off?” set the tone for the discussion, as all participants expressed frustration about some aspect of the mobile content market. mPortal CEO D.P. Venkatesh noted that the last 18-24 months has seen a spike in interest among mobile operators, but that the market was being held back because mobile interfaces remain so miserable to use. Thus the conversation turned inevitably to the iPhone, which all acknowledged offers a vastly superior interface.
As for investment opportunities, Rory O’Driscoll, director at Scale Venture Partners, painted a sobering picture of the situation so far. Companies that have spent $200 million to build up their business are selling out for $500 million, which doesn’t represent a great return for VCs. On the other end of the spectrum, mobile 2.0 firms are developing extremely capital efficient business models, possibly offerings VCs much better returns.
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