Skype - along with GMail, Ecto and the MacBook - is one of my favourite everyday technology tools. The ability to use talk and chat using such a ubiquitous tool is truly powerful and useful. What's been particularly nice is the ability to make free SkypeOut calls within North American for the past several months. Today, Skype unveiled a new SkypeOut calling plan that allows for unlimited calls within North America for $29.95 a year (anyone who signs up before Jan. 31, 2007 receives a 50% discount.) To me, it's a no-brainer. Sign me up right now!

While Skype has more than 130 million registered users, it's my belief the service is barely scratching its potential from a user and revenue perspective. Let's start with the revenue side of the house. Sure, Skype has been selling SkypeOut, SkypeIn and other premium services for awhile but the all-you-can-eat SkypeOut package is a step toward making Skype more of a mainstream service given it's an easier sell - and buy - than buying credits and the having to refill them from time to time. Of course, it would really rock is Skype unveiled an all-you-can-eat SkypeIn/SkypeOut package.
If you really want to bullish about Skype, 2007 could be the year that the registered user number really becomes relevant other than being a very big number. Let's assume Skype attracts 2% of its registered users to subscribe to the new SkypeOut package, that works out to $80-million in revenue (excluding the early-bird discount). Is that number realistic? Are there really 2.6 million Skype users willing to pay for all-you-can-eat SkypeOut?
Taking a strategic step back, the SkypeOut plan could also suggest how eBay is starting to put its stamp on the business (aside from the numerous management shuffles). Wit $4.2-bllion on the table, eBay is starting to make aggressive moves to leverage an investment that continues to puzzle many people. That said, the more Skype's revenue grows, the more the deal starts to look reasonable - something that was difficult to assume a year ago when the deal was unveiled.
For more thoughts, check out Alec Saunders, Andy Abramson, Jon Arnold and MakeYouGoHmm.

This morning, I gave a keynote speech to the Toronto Venture Group about the differences between running a start-up during the dot-com boom and what's happening now. There was no earth-shattering advice but simply my contention that companies need to be smart about how they spend their money, and make sure they focus on doing things to grow the business as opposed to distractions such as swag and cool office space.
A major theme of my talk was chairs. In fact, if I had to re-name the presentation, it would have been "It's All About the Chairs". During the dot-com boom, companies were spending $1000 to $1500 for a Herman Miller Aeron chair as opposed to shopping at Staples/Business Depot and buying a chair for $30. In many ways, the Aeron symbolized how far too many dot-com companies spent their money in the wrong places during the dot-com boom...and we're not even talking about all the swag that was distributed and all those parties with open bars. You can find some more thoughts about the "then and now" on Sean Wise's blog.

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