Interview: Salim Ismail, formerly of Yahoo Brickhouse

The great thing about being an internet entrepreneur is that the barrier to entry is so low. New products and services can be developed and launched more quickly and cheaply than ever before. The bad thing about being an internet entrepreneur is that the barrier to entry is so low. As Salim Ismail points out, if everyone can do that, "it means the field is much more crowded, and it's actually harder to get above the noise." "Today, to be successful as an entrepreneur, you have to do everything very very well - and then you have to be very lucky." Salim knows a thing or two about internet startups. In fact it was that very expertise which led to his hiring last year to run Brickhouse, Yahoo! 's own internal startup incubator in San Francisco. As Salim explains it, the idea is take innovative ideas which might not otherwise find an obvious fit within the corporate goals of a large company like Yahoo!, and give them the chance to develop in the marketplace, with the option to fold them back into the organisation at a later date. This interview was recorded at BlogTalk 2008 in March of this year, a few days after Salim announced he had taken the Yahoo! severance package and was leaving Brickhouse. He intends to continue working with startups, in particular Confabb , a social site for conferences and events.

Intruders TV | June 16, 2008

Tags:. .brickhouse. .incubator. .salim. .marketplace. .startups