April 2009
When a VC turns you down
Earlier today I had one of those unpleasant moments with this VC gig. The personal attack.
That is when you turn down an entrepreneur and that person goes “chucky”. Fortunately it doesn’t happen much. In my experience it happens maybe 1-2x a year.
I try to keep a thick skin about it. I know that the founder is just super passionate and is frustrated. For some reason I end up...
“The question of the moment is now, no longer: Is torture un-American? It is: Are...”
– Torture and Treason | CommonDreams.org
“There is nothing sadder than an aging hipster”
– Lenny Bruce (via Project.ioni.st)
1 tag
Breezy - Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band
...
I Thought I Saw Your Face - She and Him
Volume...
Looking for a job? Be helpful.
There is no doubt that we are in a tough market. Lots of people have lost their job and many others are facing the risk & reality of losing their job. That sucks on so many levels.
Like many VCs, I am getting a ton of resumes and inbound interest for a variety of our portfolio companies that are hiring right now. I am doing my best to read them all.
The best way to stand out is to be...
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Straight to Hell - The Clash
The other day I...
Favorite Thing - The Replacements
This song is...
A few notes about our nyc vacation
We spent Thursday-Saturday in NYC as a family. It was supposed to start on Wednesday but one of our kids was sick Tuesday night but fortunately got better by Thursday morning. (thanks to joanne & fred for having me over Wed night dinner. it was fun hanging out).
First, of all, people in nyc are incredibly nice. people went out of their way to chat with us, or the kids. We got tons of awesome...
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Because of our mini-vacation, I haven’t had...
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Straight To Hell - Lily Allen feat. Mick Jones
...
WatchJack Dorsey, Twitter’s cofounder & Chairman is in Iraq. Here’s Jack on CNN talking about his trip.
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Hello, iPhone OS 3.0 beta.
With a good friends help, I now have the latest beta of iPhone OS 3.0 running on my 3g iphone.
I’ve been using it for less than a full day but I’m blown away with this release (and it’s only in beta!).
My favorite things so far:
1 - Email in landscape mode. The iPhone keyboard is tough for me. I can’t type on it the way that I can on a blackberry. After all, I am the...
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Victoria - The Kooks
Been listening to War Child...
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Is venture capital a team or individual sport?
Lately I’ve been talking and listening to a number of friends, business colleagues, investors, entrepreneurs about how VCs are judged. Should they be judged as a team or as an individual?
Few thoughts come to mind as I mull over those various discussions:
0 - The reality is that a vc firm is judged by their fund performance which is based on the team’s behavior, actions, decisions...
Talking Bird (Demo) - Death Cab For Cutie
...
“The Rolling Stones are truly the greatest rock and roll band in the world and...”
– Dylan on the Rolling Stones
Bob Dylan | Bob Dylan Talks About His New Record with Bill Flanagan - Page 15
(via davehyndman)
Flash coming to your big screen? Don't wait - get...
The number one story on Techmeme right now is Adobe’s upcoming plans to come out with an optimized version of Flash for set top boxes and televisions.
It’s a great idea and has tremendous opportunity and possibilities for consumers, advertisers, content owners and developers.
Maybe I missed it but I dont’ think any of the posts on Techmeme mention that Adobe has been talking...
1 tag
Chicago X 12 - Rogue Wave
Another gem from...
My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2009-4-19) →
Ben Kweller (54)
Shout Out Louds (14)
Kings of Leon (12)
Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band (4)
of Montreal (1)
Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz
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Ida, My - Annuals
Listening to neighborhood radio...
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In a startup, sometimes it best to start at the...
Most of our investments are early stage. For these startups, our investment will not bring the company to cash flow break even. And many times our initial investment will not even bring the company to initial revenue either.
That is just fine with us.
There are many other things we want our companies to accomplish with our initial capital. Such as product, learn & engage with their users...
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Modern Girls and Old Fashioned Men - The Strokes...
“There is no civil rights struggle in the US that matters more to me than the...”
– The Failure of #amazonfail « Clay Shirky (via fred-wilson)
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Rocks Off - Of Montreal
Cover day friday on...
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Bug Labs - three year anniversary
We are investors in Bug Labs. Bug has built an open source hardware & software platform that essentially enables the long tail of consumer electronics.
I recently shared my enthusiasm about Bug and the category at MIT.
The founder & ceo of Bug Labs, Peter Semmelhack has a new post up on his blog about the past 3 years since starting the company, lessons learned and thoughts about the...
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Ten Women - Conor Oberst
This song is off the new...
My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2009-4-12) →
Radiohead (132)
The Raconteurs (18)
Pixies (13)
The Postal Service (13)
Ramones (11)
Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz
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My advice to a friend thinking about joining a...
The other day a friend of mine asked me for some advice. This person is thinking about leaving her job and joining a startup.
She’s an american citizen who is now living in Spain.
I didn’t know much about the specific company in question but I said the two most important things are: a) do you believe in the founders and b) do you love the vision & product
I think it’s...
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The Bends - Radiohead
If pressed, I would have to...
“Twitter reverses the notion of the group. Instead of creating the group you...”
– Paul Saffo
Finding Utility in the Jumble of Tweeted Thoughts - NYTimes.com
(via fred-wilson)
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My My, Hey Hey - Neil Young
I’ve been...
I want my company back!
Last week we heard that the founders of Skype are putting together a financing to buy back their company from eBay.
And yestesterday the founders of StumbleUpon announced they had bought their company back from eBay after they sold it nearly two years ago.
I love the fact that the founders are so passionate about their product & company even after a successful sale of the business....
“The entire system was deadlocked cause no one with the power to was really...”
– Mike Rowehl: This is Mobility » Please Don’t Mistake My Apathy For A Lack of Understanding
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Very Loud - Shout Out Louds
I loved the album...
While my blackberry trackball is stuck
I’ve been carrying around two devices since the end of December.
My main squeeze is the Blackberry.
And I’ve been using the iPhone essentially as a glorified iPod and as a portable browser.
A few days ago, the trackball on my Blackberry became stuck. I tried pushing it down, shaking it, singing to it and threatening it. No joy.
It’s an unlocked Tmo BB 8900 that I’m...
Keys To Your Heart - The 101ers
Before joining...