Open up your mind and say, ahh...

Who he is: Sir Li Ka-shing is a Chinese businessman based in Hong Kong, currently chairman of Hutchison Wampoa Limited and Cheung Kong Holdings. In 2010 the companies he manages were worth about 15% of the entire Hong Kong stock market, which qualifies Ka-shing as a magnate of epic proportions, rather than a mere businessman. He’s commonly considered Asia’s most powerful man, has the nickname Superman, and like many powerful figures associated with Facebook, he’s a a dropout, having left school at 15 (though that led to 16-hour work days at a plastics company). A serial tech investor, he’s philanthropic to the extent he thinks of his charity, the Li Ka-shing Foundation as his “third son.” Through it he’s already given away over $1.4 billion.

What’s his connection with Facebook?: In 2007 Ka-shing poured some $120 million into Facebook for a 0.8% share at the company’s then valuation of $15 billion.

What he’s currently worth: Ka-shing may be the best example ever of nominative determinism–the notion that your name decides your career. He’s considered the 11th richest man in the world with an estimated worth of $22 billion in 2011. Ka-ching, indeed.

What Facebook’s IPO will bring: A 0.8% stake in a Facebook worth $85 billion at IPO would equate to $680 million for Ka-shing.

What he may do with the money: Invest, acquire, give it away, dive into piles of it à la Scrooge McDuck: The new value is equivalent to just 3% of his current riches.

Zynga is delaying its IPO — originally set for next month — until November, according to a report.

The social gaming company is spooked by the “rocky stock markets,” according to the report in The New York Post, which cites two sources with knowledge of Zynga’s plans.

Mashable could not reach reps from Zynga for comment.

In late June, Zynga announced plans to go public. The company, which is behind FarmVille, CityVille and Mafia Wars, among other titles, hopes to raise $1.5 billion to $2 billion in its IPO. But since the debt ceiling debate this summer, tech stocks have been hit hard.

Zynga’s is one of several social media IPOs planned over the next few months. Another high-profile social media IPO, Groupon’s, has also reportedly been delayed, but because of SEC accounting concerns, rather than stock market conditions.

We’ve seen a number of iPad cases made from recycled materials, but this just tops the charts: iPad cases made from Bernie Madoff’s salvaged clothing.

Madoff is an incarcerated American felon, former stockbroker, investment advisor, non-executive chairman of the NASDAQ stock market, and the admitted operator of what has been described as the largest Ponzi scheme in history.

After Madoff’s arrest, the U.S. Marshals Service seized and auctioned thousands of items from his New York homes, including his clothing, which designer label Frederick James is now fashioning into iPad cases, via its collection called “The Bernie Madoff.”

The cases, each being one-of-a-kind, range from $250 to $500. Founder John Vaccaro warns purchasers that the cases are strictly for fashion use and should not be trusted to keep an iPad safe in the case of a drop. Regardless, these cases are selling out as soon as they are posted to the company’s website, by word of mouth alone.

Take a look at a sampling of the cases Vaccaro has created so far in the gallery below. Would you buy a $500 case made from Madoff’s trousers? Let us know in the comments.

Apple’s valuation has soared passed that of Exxon Mobil, making the technology giant the world’s largest company.

Around 1:22 p.m. ET, Apple was trading at north of $367 per share, giving the company a valuation of more than $341 billion, briefly surpassing what Exxon Mobil was worth at that time.

While we’ll wait and see where the market settles at the end of the day, Apple has been gaining ground fast on Exxon Mobil since reporting record iPhone and iPad sales last month. At that time, Apple was worth about $50 billion less than the oil giant. It was only 15 months ago that Apple passed Microsoft to become the world’s most valuable tech company, which at the time represented a valuation of $222 billion.

Although a significant milestone for Apple, the company hasn’t been left out of the broader stock market woes of the past several weeks. Overall, its stock is still down nearly 10% from its highs, though Exxon Mobil has seen a steeper decline as oil prices have fallen.

Part four in a four-part series on innovation and change as the new schools of business management…

As a child, you most likely played two very popular playground games, dodge ball and four square. If you’re an adult who is also an early adopter of emerging mobile applications, chances are you play them once again. The difference is that this time a mobile phone takes the place of a ball and it’s usually not hurling toward you.

Dennis Crowley knows a thing or two about both games. In fact, he’s re-imagined them for the mobile and social markets as a way of connecting people both online and also in the real world. Crowley is a tireless advocate in the concept of geo-location social networks and the idea of using mobile technology to “check in” to physical locations. He earns the tag “tireless” because his first foray into check-ins dates back a decade. Dennis Crowley and his co-founder Alex Rainert started Dodgeball in 2000 to transform mobile devices into a platform where users could text their location to reveal friends, friends of friends and interesting venues nearby.

Playing a New Game

Looking back to that year, much of the world wondered whether or not the now infamous Y2K or Millennium bug would cause a system-wide and worldwide meltdown of digital information. Even though computer systems and our data safely made the transition from 1999 to 2000, the U.S. economy didn’t fare so well. The dotcom bubble burst and the historic stock market crash that ensued caused the loss of $5 trillion in the market value of companies from March 2000 to October 2002.

While the dreams and hopes of many entrepreneurs were dashed during these uncertain times, others, such as Dennis Crowley and Alex Rainert, sought to break new ground. Before Twitter and even before Facebook enchanted the world to start social networking, the pair ushered in a new era of geo-location social networks and introduced us to the act of digitally “checking in” to physical locations.

At the time, Crowley worked as an analyst at Jupiter Research and Dodgeball would serve as his thesis project at New York University’s Interactive Telecommunications Program. The platform initially found adoption among the New York tech elite and generated a significant amount of underground buzz.

Dodgeball fever eventually caught the attention of Google and in 2005, Google acquired the five-year-old startup and ultimately employed the founding team. With Google now behind the Dodgeball brand, interest was piqued, causing a torrent of adoption among the digerati. While usage was growing within tech capitals around the country, Dodgeball was unable to secure the interest of day-to-day mobile phone users. When Twitter emerged in 2006, attention focused elsewhere. And without support from Google, Dodgeball faded into obscurity. Crowley inevitably left Google in 2007, not on the best of terms either. While loyal users kept the service alive for another two years, Google eventually pulled the plug and officially killed Dodgeball in 2009.

In reality Dodgeball was one of the first mobile social services in the US. While it was ahead of its time, it would reveal the birth of an entirely new kind of social network, one that wouldn’t see its first true mainstream adoption until almost a decade after its debut.

Game Theory: A New Look at Mobile Commerce

Fast forward to the present. While Google focused elsewhere, the competition for geo-location was heating up. Twitter was slowly garnering mass appeal, but rather than compete for location, it evolved into a real-time communication network. Other services such as Loopt and Brightkite were carrying the torch for geo-location networking while Google transitioned its Dodgeball service into what we now know as Google Latitude.

In March 2009, Crowley and Naveen Selvadurai founded Foursquare, which one could view as an evolved Dodgeball 2.0. Crowley and company knew that the key to unlocking the true promise of geo-location networking lay beyond connections, the location of friends, and the act of checking-in to local establishments. In order to attract users and convert them into evangelists, Foursquare would have to empower the “me” in social media.

“The inspiration behind Dodgeball was based on the idea of carrying a map in your pocket that shows everything about where your friends are and where they’re going. With Foursquare, the question now was, if you have this map, how can you crowdsource everything a city has to offer…taking the experiences of your friends in an offline world and bring them online so other people can discover them.”

The Foursquare experience starts with checking-in to a location via a mobile phone using the free Foursquare app. Users could easily share their location with friends and also see who’s nearby. Instead of sending Tweets like Twitter, Foursquare players could “shout” out to one another to share experiences and observations. Check-ins and shouts can also syndicate to Twitter and Facebook to unite multiple networks with one action. But, that’s only the beginning. This time, Crowley and team employed a clever system governed by game mechanics evoking a spirit of competition propelled by a reward system that coaxes active and deeper participation.

Game On

Foursquare was developed to change how people experience the world around them. As Crowley explains, “I thought a lot about the amount of time that people spend creating and curating their online persona. We wanted to create a network where people could connect and socialize online around the activity that they’re already doing in real life”

Crowley also revealed why check-ins emerged as a foundation for a new dimension to the social economy, “When people check-in, we know that a person goes to any given place and that they’re there with these people, and we look at how this place relates to the other places they’ve been to in the past. It’s now giving people digital breadcrumbs to leave behind as a reminder, but also to share with others. When people go back to those establishments, it creates an even richer dataset that inspires us to create new products to encourage engagement and exploration.”

With the introduction of gameplay, points were now earned for all previous activity as well as the introduction of new gaming elements, each of which contributed to a local leaderboard. In addition to points earned for check-ins, shouts, etc., players were encouraged to also leave tips about each location to help guide the experiences of others. And, the more players checked in to each establishment as well as greater varieties of locations, Foursquare would unlock hidden badges as rewards. These rewards ranged from prestigious mayorships for each location to achievement badges commensurate with the experience.

Why is this innovative?

First, it was addictive. In its first year, Foursquare attracted its 1 millionth user. In just a year and a half, Foursquare skyrocketed to over 3.5 million users with over 20,000 new users checking-in every day. But it’s also so much more than that. The act of checking-in ushered by Crowley dating back to 2000 was now ubiquitous. Competitive social services such as Yelp, Gowalla, and even Facebook, also introduced the ability to check-in to places within their respective networks.

Foursquare Brings the Yellow Pages to Life

Not only are check-ins done to notify friends of an individual’s current location, these random acts of patronage have now become a form of social currency. The check-in has already evolved into formal personal endorsements, with repeated check-ins practically shouting out, “I highly recommend this place!” Check-ins as a form of social currency also redefined the role of the patron and the relationship between businesses and customers.

“The network started to take on a life on its own. Foursquare gave everyday people, venues, and local merchants a voice. It opened the doors for businesses see a whole new way of seeing their customer.”

Crowley envisioned a new dynamic between people and also between places and people and as a result, introduced a working archetype for consumer empowerment and also customer engagement. He created a new channel where customers create a community around each business. And, as a result of people earning points, leaving tips, winning mayorships, or simply checking-in, business owners awoke to an already vibrant and still growing customer base that now expects their participation and attention. Essentially, Crowley handed business owners the keys to open the doors to social media and fresh business opportunities.

Crowley and company realized that business owners would ultimately benefit from the consumers who were willfully checking-in to their location. As such, businesses would have to jump into the game to steer experiences, encourage points and mayorships, and the creation of helpful and beneficial tips. Crowley and team then focused on empowering businesses by developing tools that gave merchants more control. And, more importantly, they gave businesses the ability to activate their customers through social specials, promotions, and rewards to further entice visits and commerce.

Online Check-ins Lead to Real World Commerce

Local businesses such as AJ Bombers, a popular burger joint in Milwaukee, are realizing increased business as a result of offering free burgers for mayors and free cookies for adding tips. They’ve also offered dedicated badges to guests who attend special events all organized through Foursquare. Larger chains are jumping in as well. Starbucks offered discounts or free products for mayors and subsequently noticed a 50% increase in check-ins. Recently Old Navy experimented with offering 25% off coupons simply for checking-in. As a result, many consumers did just that. Consumers also took to Twitter and Facebook to share the news of the promotion acting as a surrogate sales force or a digital street team designed to trigger foot traffic.

“The activity in Foursquare gives local merchants special insight behind the check-in in order to improve customer relationships, such as understanding who these people are, how often they visit, where else do they go, do they come in with certain friends, etc. It also helps merchants learn who their best customers are and how to ultimately help everyone become their best customer.”

Doing so connected people online and offline, brought local establishments to life in a highly popular digital domain, and also put the customer front and center of the business owner, forever changing how companies think about the people they serve.

With Foursquare, Dennis Crowley reimagined what Dodgeball could be and built an ecosystem that is growing in popularity to the tune of over 20,000 new users a day. And, the company celebrated its 200 millionth check-in this past October.

The company has already fielded acquisition offers from the likes of Yahoo. It was also rumored that Facebook was entertaining the possibility playing Foursquare as well. Instead, Crowley and the Foursquare team closed a second funding round of funding at $20 million led by Ben Horowitz of Andressen Horowitz.

The work is only beginning though. As Crowley explained, “As a startup, we have to continually focus on developing the ecosystem that we’ve created. And it’s not just about consumers; we’re developing solutions for merchants as well to encourage people to check-in more. This is about changing the way people experience the world around them.”

The evolution is far from over, but it has seen validation lately. Local reviews network Yelp and now 800-pound gorilla Facebook have entered the business of checking-in, to which Crowley responds with open arms, “Facebook doesn’t keep us awake at night, but it does inspire us. They’re validating the market, but we’re still focused on innovating and growing our ecosystem.”

In the end, Crowley’s vision is clear and focused. The future of Foursquare will focus on transforming how people experience their world online and offline, “Foursquare is about improving relationships, making cities easier and more fascinating to experience, and making the world a more interesting place to explore.”

Have you checked-in to the future of business?

Introduction: The Innovator’s Dilemma
Part 1: Jack Dorsey, Twitter and Square
Part 2: Zappos’ Tony Hsieh Delivers Happiness Through Service and Innovation
Part 3: Dennis Crowley, FourSquare

Following is an abbreviated excerpt from Engage, a new book that helps businesses build, cultivate, and measure success in social media.

Last year, Forbes magazine assembled a visual list for its Top 21 Twitter Tips to showcase business examples on how to use Twitter for marketing, service, sales, and ideation. The original compilation served as inspiration for a new list, one that helps businesses of all shapes, sizes, and focus embrace not only Twitter, but all social networks of relevance.
While many of the examples and quotes remain the same, the list is modified based on my observations and personal experiences.

Number 1. Special Offers

People are making decisions on what to read, view, purchase, visit, and sample based on the information that filters through their attention dash- boards. At best, even the most qualified information sourced from the most trusted contacts will receive only a cursory overview. The trick is to concisely introduce the value up front. If the offer is compelling and affiliated with their interests, the consumer will make the connection to personal value and benefits and click-through to redeem the special or coupon when ready or so inclined.

For example, California Tortilla (@caltort), a chain of 39 casual Mexican restaurants based in Rockville, MD, sends coupon passwords via Twitter, which customers must say at checkout to redeem the offer.

Number 2. Ordering

While the distance between introduction and action is only separated by a link, many businesses are using Twitter to log orders. Coffee Groundz (@coffeegroundz) uses the direct message channel on Twitter to receive and prepare orders. Using Twitter as a promotion and marketing channel, Coffee Groundz reports 20 to 30 percent increased sales and market share.

Number 3. Word of Mouth Marketing

Moonfruit offered 11 Macbook Pros and 10 iPod Touches to celebrate its 10th anniversary. In order to qualify, contestants had to send a tweettweet using the hashtag #moonfruit. One month following the completion of the contest, Moonfruit site traffic was up 300 percent and sales also increased by 20 percent—and all because of a meager investment of $15,000. The company also realized SEO benefits, by landing on the first results page on Google for “free website builder.”

Number 4. Conversation Marketing

Zappos (@zappos) doesn’t necessarily market on Twitter; instead, it “unmarkets” via conversations and engagement. At current count, 436 Zappos employees use Twitter, including CEO Tony Hsieh. For the record, Tony has over 1.6 million followers.

Aaron Magness, director of business development at Zappos, acknowledges that proactively sharing the company culture and values creates a humanizing effect that invites people to be part of the community, and also acts as a sales driver. “It’s easier for them to embrace openness,” he said.

Number 5. Customer Service

Frank Eliason of Comcast (@comcastcares) and Richard Binhammer of Dell (@richardatdell) are paving the way for service-focused organizations on Twitter.
Eliason, whose title is director of digital care at Comcast, uses Twitter to help 200 to 300 subscribers a day. Frank and his 10-person help desk receive direct questions, but also proactively seek out complaints. His key to success lies in his desire to earn relations, not bark advice or chat people up. “If they want assistance, they’ll let me know,” he said.

Number 6. Focus Groups

Wisdom and creativity are widespread in social media. Tuning in to the frequency of conversations related to the brand or marketplace can serve as a real-time focus group for innovation and adaptation.

Over 3 million mentions of Starbucks populated Twitter in May 2009 and, as the company learned, the price for paying attention is less than that for a caramel macchiato, but the value is priceless.

Morgan Johnston, Manager of Corporate Communications at Jet Blue, was inspired to change policy because of Twitter. He helped eliminate a $50 fee for carry-on bikes after hearing complaints via Twitter.

Johnston listens to the people who are active on the Social Web in order to improve company processes and customer service. “Think of Twitter as the canary in the coal mine. We watch for customers’ discussions about amenities we have, and what they’d like to see made better.”

Number 7. Direct Sales

Brian Simpson (@BSIMI) has helped The Roger Smith in New York monitor dialogue related to hotel stays and travel in order to offer specials in the hopes of attracting new guests. Using Twitter search, he can identify prospects and offer them a 10 percent discount on the lowest-rate rooms. Simpson estimates that Twitter and other forms of social media have netted between $15,000 to $20,000 in additional revenue.

Simpson also professed the necessity of cultivating community in social networks: “It validates us more when other people talk about us than when we talk about ourselves,” he noted.

Number 8. Business Development

Twitter, along with blogs, blog comments, and other social networks, is abundant with conversations that broadcast and echo dissatisfaction with brands and products. One company’s crisis is another’s opportunity.

Monitoring conversations (social reconnaissance) related to competitors provides the ability to “save the day” with better service or monetary incentives.

Number 9. Curation

I’ve written in the past that Twitter is not necessarily most advantageous when used as a conversation platform. Embracing it as a broadcast channel is also beneficial when used strategically.

For example, Google maintains over 2 million followers, but only follows 230. It employs a strategy that I refer to as a “curation” feed. It compiles links to content and company posts elsewhere and aggregates them into one channel. I recommend that companies use this for information collected from customers and influencers, as well in order to truly curate the best, most helpful content from around the Web while building good will in the process.

However, Twitter accounts can also create and portray a persona around an social objects. For example Albion’s Oven, a bakery in London, notifies followers when fresh croissants are ready.

Number 10. Information Networks

Unlike a curated network that keeps followers in sync with trends, services, and solutions, Information Networks can serve up helpful alerts and notices to help followers avert problems, change plans, and also pursue new opportunities.

The Michigan Department of Transportation uses Facebook and Twitter to alert friends and followers of traffic and road closures. Oakland County Parks uses Facebook and Twitter to spread the word about events and news and also conducts polls to improve local programs and services.

In business, customers could also benefit from updates and alerts that they might not have otherwise have encountered on their own.

Number 11. Dedicated and Branded Channels

On Twitter, Ford Motor uses distinct accounts for sharing information about specific models and products. For example, @forddrivegreen focuses on sustainability, whereas @fordmustang, well, you guessed it, shares content related to the Mustang.
Scott Monty, head of social media for Ford, recognizes that social media reveals the people who formerly comprised the audience: “We give customers a choice as to how they want to consume information.”

Whole Foods maintains independent channels, as well, to better serve customers. For example, the healthy foods retailer channels specific information and updates for wine and beer, cheese, and recipes.

Number 12. Mobile and Geo Location Marketing

Local businesses are using social tools to identify customers within the area to attract new business and also extend the online interaction into a full-blown community in the real world. Because I was there when this story was just about to unfold, I will reference my good friend Mike Prasad and the great work he’s done for Kogi, a mobile force of Korean BBQ taco trucks @kogiBBQ.

One night in Hollywood, Mike and I were talking about getting a late night snack. He told me about the company he was working with and how if we sent a tweet out requesting their presence, there was a good chance that they’d stop by the neighborhood to serve us dinner. Thirty minutes later, Kogi was indeed outside our hotel and a group of about 25 to 30 people immediately began proclaiming their appreciation for on Twitter.

Prasad echoes this sentiment and is helping to lead the way: “We try to foster a culture by interaction with the people around us. Now, Kogi isn’t about getting a taco, it’s about having an experience.”

Expect to see this trend continue in mobile social networks dedicated to locale and accessible via mobile phones.

Number 13. Hosted Conversations That Generate Traffic and Referrers

Social Media Dashboards are the future of hosted and aggregated conversations. As we’re observing, those sites that integrate Twitter chat functionality can not only thread conversations in one place for easy following, but also send out tweets in the Twitter stream for all followers to see, and hopefully feel compelled or curious to join, as well.

During the NBA Eastern Conference Finals between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Orlando Magic, Turner Broadcasting integrated Twitter into TNT.com with the help of Gigya. Visitors could log into the site with their Twitter ID and respond directly in the hosted timeline. As such, their tweets not only appeared on TNT.com but also in Twitter, attracting more fans into the site.

Number 14. User-Generated Change

As we’ve seen and will continue to see, in social media tiny online social revolutions can manifest and ultimately ignite change.

Historically, the 2009 Iran Election will serve as an inflection point for the rise of user-generated change. While the results of election itself weren’t altered, the Iran government was forced to respond.

Two services mentioned in the Forbes Top Twitter Tips article, Twitition and TinyPetition, are dedicated to organizing people on Twitter to call for change officially.

Number 15. Vendor Relationship Management

A form of relationship management introduced by Cluetrain Manifesto author Doc Searls, Vendor Relationships Management (VRM) flips the workflow of CRM (customer relationship management) from companies to customers.

Whereas people are relegated to faceless customers when e-mailing or calling into the service department, social media takes the power once held exclusively by the brand and injects balance.

UK-based Wiggly Wigglers, a marketer of farming and gardening supplies, was surprised to learn that British Telecom overcharged the company by $10,000. After five months of a stalemate and without any promise or hope of resolution, company owner Heather Gorringe took her story to the Twitterverse. Within 30 minutes, @BTCare responded with help and two days later, the bill was adjusted.

Number 16. Ideation

As we’ve witnessed with My Starbucks Idea (http://mystarbucksidea. force.com) and Dell’s IdeaStorm (www.ideastorm.com), crowdsourcing ideas can not only be an excellent source for innovation, but also an effective means for establishing goodwill.

IBM uses Twitter to test concepts and solicit feedback and ideas through @ibmresearch.

Number 17. Employee Recruitment

Recruiters and hiring managers are turning to Twitter to seek referrals and applicants for open positions. Twitter and social networks can spark a social effect that galvanizes community support and action. Not only can companies save a significant amount of money on listing and referral fees using traditional outlets and resources, they essentially create a presence through the practice of “unmarketing” itself through the process of seeking qualified candidates.

Number 18. Events

Organizing and promoting events are natural applications for Twitter. Tweetups transcend online relationships and become real-world connections.

Using Coffee Groundz as an example again, the Houston-based business regularly organizes tweetups to draw hundreds of customers into the store for each event.

Number 19. Research and Intelligence

The Social Web is a real-time collective and assembly of valuable information that mostly goes unnoticed. A few existing services are dedicated to applying a magnifying lens into the dialogue that leads to insight, direction, creativity, and inventiveness.

For example, celebrity.peoplebrowsr.com provides real-time insight into the most actively discussed celebrities on Twitter at any moment in time, while also revealing the sentiment that is most associated with each. If you notice at the top, you can also view the latest on Airlines industry or stock market sentiment and associated tweets.

StockTwits provides an open, community-powered idea and information service for investments. Users can listen to traders and investors, or contribute to the conversation. The service leverages Twitter as a content production platform and transforms tweets into financial related data structured by stock, user, and reputation.

Number 20. Fund Raising

This is a big opportunity and one that will yield amazing stories on how people are using Twitter and social media to raise money for charitable causes and capital for projects and companies. It’s the art of spurring contributions through information and education, not solicitation.

When it comes to social media for Social Good, we don’t have to look much further than anything Beth Kanter touches or spotlights. She’s one of the most influential people in using social media for raising awareness, support and money for causes. One of the projects that she remains dedicated to is helping orphans in Cambodia and, to date, it has raised over $200,000. She has also used Twitter, Widgets, and other social networks to help many other organizations and causes. In one live demonstration, which still leaves me in awe, she raised over $2,500 to send a young Cambodian woman to college while she was on stage at Gnomedex in Seattle.

Number 21. Words of Wisdom

As reiterated throughout these top tips, listening and responding is helpful and efficacious in luring new customers, empowering advocacy, and instilling loyalty.

Serving as a resource for your community or industry positions, proactively responding to online users who are posing questions, and assisting those who are seeking advice and guidance can garner trust, respect, and camaraderie for you and the causes you espouse.

There are measurable and also incalculable benefits to dedicating resources to lead individuals and organizations to resolution.

For example, @homedepot monitors dialogue related to the company, but also those individuals who are tackling home projects and seeking tips and instructions.

BestBuy’s @Twelpforce has authorized its entire staff of trained employees to seek out discussions related to consumer electronics, home theaters, gaming, music, appliances, and technology, and to answer questions, whether or not they’re directly tied to the BestBuy brand.

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