Blockchain: Building Blocks, Not Blockbuster

While I was working on a post about blockchain, I did an interview with the Drum and basically scooped myself. So, go read it: http://www.thedrum.com/news/2018/03/13/appnexus-ceo-brian-okelley-me-the-crypto-ico-terrifying-trend.

A few other things to consider while you're pondering that:

• Michael Dell had an interesting interview in Forbes recently, and he made a similar analogy between the dot.com cycle and the cloud (thanks, Dad, for the link!):

Looking at the cloud, I see an analogy to the Internet. The cloud isn’t a place, it’s a way of doing IT. If we were having this discussion 20 years ago, we’d be talking about the Internet and you’d be asking, “What’s your Internet strategy? Where’s your Internet product division? Who’s your vice president of the Internet?” And where’s all of that stuff now? The Internet is just a part of everything.

• Another good Drum article about blockchain: "How to tell when someone is talking BS about blockchain".

• At the IAB Annual Leadership Meeting, I hosted a panel called Blockchain: Getting to Radical Transparency. My role as moderator was simple: convince the panelists not to say the word "blockchain" under any circumstances, and see if we can still convince the audience that transparency is inevitable. If you're ever on a panel with me and I say it's "Fight Club" rules, be prepared.

• On Thursday, March 15, we're hosting a Tech Talk at AppNexus in New York: "Is Blockchain Ready for AdTech?" with a great group of speakers including Ben John (AppNexus CTO) and Eileen Lowry (Global Program Director, IBM Blockchain Garage). Should be a very interesting conversation!