Cheap Net Worth (Book) (John Hagel III, Marc Singer) Price

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Customer Reviews of Net Worth

The consumer infomediary is one such model and its development, from planning to execution, is beautifully and comprehensively addressed by Mr. Hagel in "Net Worth."

As with his last book ("Net Gain"), Mr. Hagel shows that he has thought through not just the major issues, but many of the subtleties that lie in wait for the aspiring infomediary.

His insight on the topic is especially startling to me, an entrepreneur, who has spent the last 2+ years working through issues of building an infomediary service and has had to deal with, first hand, many of the issues Mr. Hagel identifies and works through in this book.

"Net Worth" is a testament to Mr. Hagel's vision and is a must read for anyone interested in e-commerce and the emerging models that will shape its future.

For my part, I have made it required reading for my entire company, including our VCs and future potential investors.

A different approach to ecommerce than any books of the kind
Most of the books on the subject like customer.com, webnomoics etc. is like a statistical survey of the CURRENT successful companies and summaries their successful charateristics. The reason that I like this book is that it starts from asking fundamental questions of what is the internet capable and hence how does it affect the fundamental relationship between the vendors and consumers? Given that arise the new business model conceptualized as "infomediaries" and hence its step to succeed, its economical, social, legal impacts. With this approach, the reader can gain insight to the future and not just the successful factors of the CURRENT status. What I dont like about this book is that its assumption are over-simplified and not well discussed. How would changes in such assumptions affect the informediaries? Besides, this business model focused on the information flow between consumer and vendors and hence its results. What about the the implication to say goods, materials, capital flows as a result? While I like the approach of the authors, I also questions the limitation of the book as the authors also admitted that there are many other valid business models.

Dimensions and Applications of Effective "Infomediation"
Hagel has co-authored two especially important books (with Arthur G. Armstrong III and Marc Singer, respectively) and Net Worth "which builds on a number of the themes originally developed" in Net.Gain. As Hagel and Armstrong point out, Net.Gain "systematically [analyzes] the economic drivers for value creation that exist on networks. It [uses] one particular business model -- the virtual community -- to illustrate the unique capabilities of digital networks and how these might be harnessed to create a substantial business with very attractive economics."

The material in Net Worth is carefully organized within three Parts: The New Infomediaries, Entry Strategies, and The Infomediation of Markets. Hagel and Armstrong also provide an Appendix: The Technology Tool Kit, followed by excellent suggestions for further reading. According to Hagel and Singer, "We came up with a key insight. Digital networks such as the Internet might for the first time provide the tools necessary for customers to capture information about themselves and to deny vendors access to this information....It became clear that there would be an opportunity for a new kind of business -- we call it 'information intermediary' or 'infomediary' -- to help customers capture, manage, and maximize the value of this information."

Hagel and Singer challenge a number of common views about the Internet: "First, we urge senior managers not to view the Internet simply as a way to do the same things cheaper and faster....Second, we reject the notion that the Internet is uniformly leading to disintermediation, creating opportunities for vendors to connect directly with customers while relentlessly eliminating all intermediaries that previously came in the way....Third, we question whether the real value of the Internet is in information access. The Internet instead is a powerful platform for connecting people or businesses with each other, enriched and enhanced by relevant information....Fourth, we are suspicious of claims that the Internet will systematically lower barriers to entry and lead to fragmentation of businesses." These excerpts from the text correctly suggest that (a) Hagel and Singer believe that there are several quite serious misconceptions about the Internet relative to virtual communities and (b) they have quite specific opinions about how best to shape markets at a time when customers determine what the terms of engagement are.

They assert (and I wholeheartedly agree) that companies playing the "infomediary" role are now -- or will soon become -- the custodians, agents, and brokers of customer information, marketing it to businesses (and providing then with access to it) on consumers' behalf, while at the same time (key point) protecting their privacy. In the final chapter, Hagel and Singer observe that "This book has argued that infomediaries can play an extremely valuable market role in reconciling the tension between the growing value of customer information and the growing concern over customer privacy....[Over time] infomediaries will reshape firms and markets. In doing so, they will unleash broad social changes and call into question many conventional approaches to public policy. Our response to these social and public policy issues will in many respects determine the pace and the ultimate effects of this innovative new business model." It is probably impossible to calculate the full value of what Hagel and Singer provide in this single volume. Theirs is a stunning achievement.

Beyond its obvious implications for multi-national enterprise, the concept of "infomediation" may well be the defining principle of global connectivity and interactivity for decades to come. My strong recommendation is that Net.Gain be read first, then Net Worth. My further recommendation is that both books be used to formulate the agenda for a workshop or what is generally referred to as an "executive retreat" (preferably for two days and located offsite) with all participants required to read both books in advance. Those who share my high regard for the two books are urged to check out Peter Senge's The Fifth Discipline as well as O'Dell and Grayson's If Only We Knew What They Know. Both can also help with the planning and then implementing the off-site workshop recommended earlier.