May 2012
Time To Pretend (MGMT Cover) by Sunday...
Saying goodbye to Jackson
In the summer of 1997, Lauren and I had been married for a few years, and we decided to get a puppy.
We adopted a yellow lab at 8 weeks and brought him home. We named him Jackson because we thought it suited him and because we had lived on a place at the corner of Webster and Jackson Street in San Francisco.
Jackson instantly became part of our family. I have endless memories of...
Core iOS apps being replaced, one at a time
The home screen on my iPhone has changed quite a bit over the years.
The most obvious thing is Apple’s very own core apps have been replaced by 3rd parties.
The default camera app has been replaced by Camera+, Hipstamatic and Instagram
The default notes app has been replaced by Simplenote
The default messenger app has been replaced by Kik
The default calendar app has been replaced by...
Met @mchammer today
Such a nice guy
“When you’re president, as opposed to the head of a private equity firm, then...”
– President Obama on why Mitt Romney’s record in the private sector matters (via barackobama)
Amen.
Disruptions: DIY, a Site for Children, Is... →
via NYT:
DIY is seeking to be like a Boy Scout troop for the modern day. Instead of teaching children how to tie a clove hitch that seems fit for teenagers in the 1920s, DIY, a Web site and mobile app, will encourage children to build things, document them with an iPhone or iPod, and then receive rewards for their work.
This is such a great idea. I’m so glad we had the opportunity to...
Backbeat Go (review)
The other day I saw these wireless headphones called the Backbeat Go.
They looked pretty sweet so I ordered them and they arrived on Friday.
Here’s my quick review.
-very simple to pair with the iphone. the iphone also does smart things when you are near other paired bluetooth devices. for example, when i get in my car and make a call, the iphone lets you toggle between which device...
“In the long run, people will trust Twitter more than they do Facebook.”
– Nick Bilton
Facebook vs. Twitter - NYTimes.com (via fred-wilson)
When the heart overrules the mind
There is often a lot of “heat” around a company that is growing very fast. There is most likely a lot of growing pain that comes with hyper-growth but generally that is a high class problem (assuming the growth is authentic).
Founders, employees, investors and press will look at the metrics and combine it with a growth forecast and a reasonable scaleable business model and the mind...
newspeedwayboogie:
this is the song of the day...
Big syndicates for consumer seed rounds but not...
We have seen a ton of seed rounds completed over the last 24 months where the start up raises less than $2M of initial financing and has sometimes 4 (or more!) traditional venture firms participating plus a half dozen angels (or more!) in the same round.
Many smart folks have commented on that strategy and whether that is a good idea of traditional venture firms or entrepreneurs. For this post,...
Wi-Fi Calling
In our house, cellular coverage is a big problem.
Basically I can only get coverage if I’m in a few rooms at best. The vast majority of my inbound calls go to voicemail. (Maybe that’s a feature not a bug - especially on weekends!) My primary mobile phone is an iPhone on Verizon’s network.
I’m a Google Voice user but I don’t want work calls routed to my home number....
1 tag
Bluish (Animal Collective cover) by Sondre...
via barackobama:
“Same-sex couples should be able to get married.”—President Obama
Yes we can.
Is 20k installs per day the new norm?
Thanks to the combination of smartphone proliferation, the app store distribution model, FB Open Graph integration and Twitter, we are seeing mobile apps reach incredible metrics very fast - particularly in daily installs and sign ups.
It’s has me thinking about a number of things:
FB Open Graph integration is clearly paying off for developers. My worry is how long it lasts, namely,...
The importance of elders
Somehow I missed this one, but last week Jerry Colonna wrote a great post, “Mind Your Elders”.
In the post, he calls out the importance of “elders” in a startup ecosystem.
But, most of all, it needs Elders. That is, Mentors, coaches, Angel Investors; people who can serve informally and formally as guides. Their roles vary…from providing the seed capital to germinate...
Productivity per square inch →
via Matt Mullenweg
I used to use three 27″ monitors vertically, then switched to two 30″ Dells, nowadays I’m on a 13″ Air screen most of the time, and occasionally plug into a Thunderbolt Display. Here’s a cool article on how to increase productivity per square inch of your screen by Peter Legierski.
I made this move last year and couldn’t be happier.
“I’m coming back. Write it down in big letters. I’m not going out like this.”
– Mariano Rivera
YES!
(via yankeenation)
Winterlong (Neil Young cover) by Pixies
Happy...
singulus asked: "Bijan, For those of us who don't have enough bandwidth for streaming audio or podcasts, do you have a transcript available (@nabeel discussion)."
“But I am never going to optimize short-term revenue at the expense of user...”
– Dick Costolo, Twitter CEO
love @dickc’s clarity about what’s important
“When you do something noble and beautiful and nobody noticed, do not be sad. For...”
– John Lennon (via david)
Are venture capitalists more loyal to their...
Over the last few weeks I’ve had a number of conversations with VCs about which is more important, their duty to founders they invest in or their limited partners (investors in VC funds).
The two things that prompted these recent discussions: Twitter’s Innovator’s Patent Agreement (which we supported) and Andreessen Horowitz decision to give half of their income to charity.
...
