December 2009
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The Inside Round
I would say that most venture backed startups require additional capital after the seed or Series A round. That isn’t a bad thing and typically part of the plan. And everyone knows that going in from the founders, to the early employees as well as the earliest investors.
At some point the company then needs to raise additional capital. (I’ve already written about how to focus your...
My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2009-12-27) →
Arctic Monkeys (144)
Nada Surf (91)
Ben Kweller (65)
Billy Bragg (61)
New Order (44)
Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz
Giving Blippy a try
I am very excited about a new service that launched recently - Blippy. In early 2008, I was hoping someone would create a similar service.
In case you aren’t familiar, Blippy is a way to publicly share things you buy with others. If Twitter asks the question, “what’s happening?” and foursquare asks you “where are you?”, then Blippy is asking “what did you...
Remembering the upside of rejection
At my first job (which was a startup) they did this thing after you worked there for 90 days. They would get everyone together and make a big deal about the new person and their role in the company. Then, they would give you these set of cubes.
I also remember that everyone had kept these cubes on their desk at that company. It was a cool thing that was part of their culture.
I still have...
My digital life in the year 2000
We are coming to the end of a decade.
So much has changed in the world technology. I thought it would be fun to jot down the gadgets and other misc stuff I used in those days.
1. Computer. I used a Powerbook G3 (Pismo). I had a love/hate relationship with that computer. It had a 400mhz processor and it was my first laptop with wifi. The screen was amazing. And even though System 9.x was getting...
“We are so tied up in AppStore mania (one of the great themes of 2009) that...”
– I Am Tired Of AppStore Mania
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My top 10 favorite albums of 2009
There were so many fantastic albums this year it’s quite difficult to choose just ten.
I shared songs from all of these fine records during the year so I dont think there will be too many surprises.
Okay, well here goes:
10. Dark Was The Night This is a complilation of indie artists and all proceeds goto HIV/AIDS awareness and support. I actually discovered this record from Colin Meloy on...
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How to unplug on vacation
I was going to title this post “confessions of an email addict”
My good friend Tim wrote a fb update yesterday and asked how to disconnect during vacation.
That is a good thing to figure out.
It used to be simple. Create an “out of office message” on your mail server. Then just leave your laptop at home or in your bag. Presto.
But now many of us create and consume...
Happy Birthday, Dad
Today is my dad’s birthday. He’s 70. We are going to have a party for him tomorrow night and I’m really looking forward to that.
My dad has taught me a lot.
We have much in common and in some ways we are quite different.
My dad introduced me to the world of camping, skiing, soccer, computers and photography. And jokes. Those memories go as far back as I can remember.
Happy...
Kamera - Wilco
My friend Fred is putting together...
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My Apple netbook
As I look back on 2009, my calendar (and my body) serve as a reminder that I traveled a ton. And I don’t see that changing in 2010.
So I bought a new MacBook Air this weekend. It has a 128gig solid state drive. It’s super light, quiet and smooth. I’m going to use this strictly as my travel computer not as my main computer at the office. (I wouldn’t recommend using this as...
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Despair In The Departure Lounge - The Kooks
...
My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2009-12-20) →
The Shins (25)
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart (20)
Monsters of Folk (5)
24 (5)
Jay-Z (4)
Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz
“If the Obama administration wants to really do something about jobs and...”
– Getting Computer Science Into Middle School - Fred Wilson
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We gotta do a deal together
“We gotta do a deal together”
Those six words are pretty common in the VC world. It’s typically said when one VC sees another VC at a conference, breakfast or whatever.
I often smile inside when i hear those words because unfortunately most people don’t mean it (sadly). I can see it coming almost every time. I’ve had too many VCs say that to me ever since I got into...
Wild Horses - Iron and Wine
It’s cover...
“I’m stayin’ above the flat line
And I’m ahead of the curve
Take a piece of the...”
– “Ahead Of The Curve” by Monsters of Folk
Just flew in on the red eye from San Francisco this morning. This is how I’m feeling right now
“Economic research suggests that more than 1.5 million workers who would...”
– If Health Care Reform Fails, America’s Innovation Gap Will Grow - New York Times (via AZspot)
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The more you give, the more you get (part II)
I left out a number of important things in my “the more you give, the more you get” post about the web.
The thing is, the “give” has to be easy and the “get” has to be great.
Web applications that force the user to spend loads of time before the eventual (hopeful) payoff don’t work for me. That’s why I mentioned last.fm first in my post. It’s...
Bittersweet/Dirt Off Your Shoulder - Jay-Z/Verve...
The Eton Rifles - The Jam
When it comes to the web, the more you give, the...
There are a number of private torrent networks out there that keep track of your upload vs download ratios. Put simply, if you don’t give then you can’t take.
In those networks the rules are rigid and you either play by the rules or you don’t.
I like how a number of excellent web services offer a better experience as users contribute more to the service.
I’m going to...
My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2009-12-13) →
Bright Eyes (141)
Ben Kweller (93)
Radiohead (24)
The Cure (22)
Modest Mouse (18)
Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz
Whistle For The Choir - The Fratellis
I was...
“My biggest beef with blackberry apps is the popups they create around trust and...”
– Fred Wilson - http://j.mp/76kHXP
“So let’s talk traffic. We’ve got people who love this goddamn phone so much that...”
– The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs : A not-so-brief chat with Randall Stephenson of AT&T
Fake Steve Jobs on fire with this post.
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Built to sell(out) ?
I was at an event this month where a prominent, experienced investor was talking to the audience about small being beautiful. He was talking about fund size and investment size. His fund is smaller than $100MM. For this post, I’ll just call him “Joe”.
Joe went on to say that while starting companies has become more efficient, venture funds have been getting bigger. If companies...
Dead Flowers - Deer Tick
It’s cover friday...