What to learn from Ebay & Skype

If you haven't heard, today Ebay announced that they are purchasing Skype in a transaction that could be valued at $4.1 billion. I have been a Skype user for over a year now and it is great for making cheap calls to contacts in Asia and elsewhere. I have encouraged all of my business contacts to sign up for Skype, buy a headset and begin Skyping with me. Unfortunately, only a few of these people ever actually signed up for the service let alone tried using it with me. Now after this announcement in the news, people are wondering what this Skype thing is all about. The lesson here is simple - if you are in the venture industry or for that matter any business, you need to embrace new technology whole-heartedly and try and integrate it into your business as soon as possible. If you do this you will be ahead of the curve and find the best investment opportunities. Typically, the costs of integrating new technology can be prohibitive. But when the cost savings are drastic and the service is free, you need to be the first to jump on the wagon. Don't fight the tape and resist change because soon that wagon will turn into a bandwagon and many others will follow.  Who knows, next time you could be $4.1 billion richer!