Former securities analyst Henry Blodget recently launched ClusterStock which provides daily news, commentary, and research analysis on the economy, energy, financial services, retailing and technology sectors. ClusterStock’s parent company Silicon Alley Media appears to follow the Web 2.0 nanopublishing business model of Gawker Media‘s Nick Denton and Mahalo founder and entrepreneur Jason Calacanis.
In a 2008 last-minute submission to Australia’s Review of the National Innovation System I contended that market-based approaches may resolve some challenges in the organisational design and concept to cash/concept to market processes of R&D consortia and institutions. ClusterStock provides an example for strategic implementation: coverage of market events by sector specialists, near real-time commentary on conference calls, and assumptions testing via reader/user feedback. The public face provides an information filter and feedback loop in the incubation and idea generation phases of creative innovation. R&D consortia could implement this web publishing model as a peristyle public face with separate internal processes for ‘commercial in confidence’ information and corporate/government partners.
For his side of the infamous dotcom era blow-up plus an insider’s critique of the investor ecosystem see Blodget’s informative consumer guide The Wall Street Self-Defense Manual (Atlas Books, New York, 2007) and Slate Magazine’s accompanying articles.