There is a great write up today on VentureBeat about Avanoo recently launching. For those of you who have not heard of them ,they are a site that taps into the wisdom of crowds in order to offer up answers to many of life’s questions. They have built upon the popular notion popularized by James Surowiecki’s in his book, “The Wisdom of Crowds“. The general notion is that a crowd is smarter on a whole than the smartest individual contributor.

Avanoo is taking this concept to a whole new level and providing the ability for an opinion seeker to narrow down their search for an answer to their question to the group that mostly aligns to them self. For example, a 25 year old guy looking to buy his wife their first anniversary present would be more likely to follow the advice of like minded individuals (meaning of the same age, sexual orientation, marital status) than say that of a group comprised of 60 year old divorced, bitter, men. Get the picture?

One of the founders, Dan Jacobs, gained a bit of notoriety back at the beginning of the year by publishing his account of an experience they had with a certain VC when they were shopping their idea to the various VC firms. He changed the name to protect the innocent, but it did not take long for anyone to understand who “Dude Yamaha” was.

Dan is a great guy, I have exchanged several e-mails with him over the months, and I wish him and Wilford all the success. I think they have tapped into something here, and I am excited to see where Avanoo will go.

It seems as Google has been on a tear lately in their purchases of companies. It has been rumored for the last couple of days that their next target acquisition is going to be Feedburner. It looks like the price tag is hanging around the $100 million dollar range, but keep in mind this is just rumor. They (Feedburner) have been rumored to be for sale before, but rumors are like the wind, they come and go.

So if in fact Google does purchase Feedburner, their list continues to grow. They have made some interesting purchases in the recent past, when will their coffers run out? Taking a look back to when they purchased YouTube in October of 2006, they have amassed a $4.8 billion dollar (this figure represents those companies whose purchase prices are none) spending spree. The list includes:

• YouTube - $1.65 billion
• Endoxon - $28 million
• Xunlei - undisclosed amount
• Adscape - $23 million
• Trendalyzer - undisclosed amount
• Tonic Systems - undisclosed amount
• Marratech - undisclosed amount
• DoubleClick - $3.1 billion

So if it is not Feedburner, who will be next?

Do you currently have a web based product or are thinking of launching a web based product? If so, there are some key fundamentals that you should keep close to your heart and make sure your live and breath them everyday, or you will seriously run the risk of driving your product into the ground.

Chris Pirillo has a great post on what these key fundamentals are, and for the most part, I think they are dead on. Some of the key fundamentals are:

1. Openness - not just in technology (which I think is a great way to launch a product on the cheap all the while capitalizing on web standards in terms of acceptance) but in strategy. You may have the best laid plans for your product but once you launch it to the public, it is in their hands now. Embrace what your users are doing with your product and adapt it to fit their needs. If you want to drive them away, turn a deft ear and a blind eye to how they are using it and continue with your plan. See how long you last without any customers, not long I assure you.
2. Mind-share / market-share - great point here, make sure that your brand is on the minds of those in your market. The more it is mentioned, the more it resonates with people the more likely you are to capture market-share. That is where you want to be, the bigger your market-share the higher the probability of success.
3. Marketing strategy - whatever you do, do not rely solely on “viral” marketing efforts, this is not a plan. If you do not know how to market your product, then hire someone that does. If they tell you this is Web 2.0 and they are going to rely on viral marketing, do a quick about face and run for the door!
4. Community - these grow from the smallest of things, but you need to have something in place to facilitate the growth. Give them a reason to come back, and they will. Also, if your product is compelling but not reliable, it will not take long for them to start finding alternatives. Just take a look at what is beginning to happen with Twitter.
5. Engage in conversations - do not have a one way street with your customers, meaning you sending out communications with no reply mechanism. You need to get down to their level, speak their speak, engage them in two way conversations. Give them as many ways to interact with you and they will take you up on it. Make the product more personal, do not be afraid to let them know “who” you are and how they can get in touch with you. I mean, take a look at Tom on MySpace, he is everyone’s friend and people know how to get in touch with him.
6. Transparency - people can see right through the BS, so you should just cut it out and be as up front and honest with them as you can. It does not take them long to figure you out, so the sooner you lay your cards on the table and shoot straight with them, the better off you are.

Chris closes his post with this “The Internet isn’t just a bunch of cables and wires—it’s an interconnected network of people.”

(NOTE: the high level points are Chris’, the color commentaries are my thoughts)