July 2009
June 2009
1 tag
Kudos to Ford and OMGPOP
Our portfolio company OMGPOP develops real time, social games. Their most recent game Hover Kart is off to a great start with well over 1million game plays in just over a week. Hover Kart is also integrated with OMGPOP’s Store where users can purchase virtual goods.
Today, Mashable wrote about Ford sponsoring Hover Kart in a very clever way. Using the “Konami Code”, players...
“Thirty years of official nutritional advice has only made us sicker and fatter...”
– reblogged via Evan Williams | evhead
1 tag
All Of A Sudden - Telekinesis
Merge Records is...
1 tag
Got Nuffin - Spoon
New EP coming out tomorrow....
1 tag
"Me too" companies
In our industry, we often hear people look down on “me-too” companies. I think it’s often misused.
Typically, the “me too” label is used to describe a company going after a highly competitive space with what appears to be a very similar product.
It’s easy to dismiss any new music service or a new social net or perhaps a personal financial web service....
My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2009-6-28) →
Passion Pit (41)
Fanfarlo (36)
Pixies (33)
Fleet Foxes (27)
Neil Young (26)
Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz
1 tag
I don’t want to die in a hospital - Conor...
1 tag
Like A Rolling Stone - Jimi Hendrix
Cover friday....
1 tag
Thoughts from last night: What's Next in Tech 09
Last night I participated in What’s Next in Tech which was led by Scott Kirsner and held at Boston University. I was on the VC panel with Neil Sequeira from General Catalyst and Michael Greeley from Flybridge.
Few thoughts from last night:
-Scott started the evening session by asking the audience if they are generally optimistic or pessimistic about what’s next in technology &...
“So first I was all, “Wow, that’s sad news but I am not qualified to blog...”
– Heather Browne | I AM FUEL, YOU ARE FRIENDS
1 tag
Failsafe - The New Pornographers
We are having a...
1 tag
WatchI’ve never met Tim O’Reilly. But after following him on Twitter and watching his talk from the 140conf, I hope to meet him sometime soon.
Tim starts about a minute into this clip. I really enjoy his insight about Twitter, publishing and communities.
Here’s one of several great lines:
“And I think that [is] one of the lessons here for anybody involved in Twitter, and...
1 tag
Moth’s Wings - Passion Pit
Been listening...
1 tag
Big Boxee News
There is an event happening right now in San Francisco. It’s the Boxee SF meetup and you can watch it live here. The NYC Boxee meetup attracted nearly 800 people. It will be interesting to see how many people show up in SF.
There are a number of things planned for tonight. Here are a few of them.
Boxee App Store
Avner and the Boxee team are going to share a bunch of things at the meetup...
“While my life is frenetic, the world around us is chaotic, and as I like to say...”
– Brad Feld - Deep Calm
Brad’s got it right. I’m trying to get better at this. Making improvements.
1 tag
After the Goldrush - The Flaming Lips
Listened to...
Running a startup board meeting
Earlier today, Andy Payne wrote an excellent guide about running a startup board meeting.
I highly recommend reading the post if you are a startup CEO.
Thanks Andy.
My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2009-6-21) →
My Morning Jacket (34)
The Replacements (28)
Led Zeppelin (28)
Bob Dylan (24)
Regina Spektor (22)
Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz
1 tag
Dear newspapers: Where are the links?
Earlier this evening I read a bunch of online news from traditional newspapers.
Here’s what I read:
1. Start-ups stifled by noncompetes, Boston Globe
2. Investors Bet on Payments via Cellphone, NYT
3. Digg Brainstorming new communication tools for users, LA Times
4. iPhone Upgrades could hurt some applications, SFGate
One thing stuck out in every case and it really surprised me.
Not...
“In the end, inspiring the poignant fantasy of another life is the closest these...”
– The Medium - Are ‘Midtails’ the Future of Television? - NYTimes.com
Great piece about our portfolio company Next New Networks in the New York Times today.
1 tag
Hands - Fanfarlo
Another wonderful one from...
1 tag
1 tag
Finishline - Fanfarlo
I am head over heels for...
1 tag
iPhone: from frustration to fascination.
I bought the very first first iPhone when it came out a few years ago. I was so excited and couldn’t wait to give it a run.
It didn’t work for me. I couldn’t get over the lack of 3g, lack of MS Exchange support, lack of apps (no app store in those days), no copy & paste, no email search, poor battery, and an odd headphone jack connector. I wanted it to work for me. It was so...
1 tag
Strange Powers - The Shins
Love this song and...
“Fiscally conservative types are aghast at the enormity of the bailout and the...”
– Howard Kurtz - Obama’s Rough Patch - washingtonpost.com
I have no regrets. I am happy I voted for Obama. Especially over McCain/Palin.
But here’s the rub: on most issues i want a fiscal conservative & socially liberal prez. not the other way around!
1 tag
Top traffic sources to my blog
I didn’t make it to the 140 conference. I caught pieces of the of the various sessions on Twitter and various blogs.
I wish I could have been there for the Ann Currie session. I heard it was quite interesting.
Fred discussed the power of passed links at the conference and how services like Facebook and Twitter are driving more traffic than ever to various websites. I’ve been hearing...
“I wouldn’t know a Twitter from a tweeter, but apparently, it is very...”
– Hillary Clinton - Los Angeles Times
1 tag
She’s A Rainbow - The Rolling Stones
I woke...
1 tag
My Apartment - Ben Kweller
I’m in NYC today...
“That a new information technology could be improvised for this purpose so...”
– The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan
(via fred-wilson)
I Am A Lonesome Hobo - Bob Dylan
There is so much...
My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2009-6-14) →
The Decemberists (36)
Eels (35)
Bright Eyes (30)
Ben Kweller (18)
Bishop Allen (12)
Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz
1 tag
Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right -...
2 tags
The future of the public library
On Saturday night, lauren and I walked passed the Boston Public Library. For those of you that haven’t been to the BPL, it’s simply beautiful.
We got into talking about the future of libraries in a world of iphones, kindles, blackberries, netbooks, wifi, mifi, etc.
And I’m not sure I’ve come a conclusion yet. Last night I thought about it again outloud on twitter.
I got...
“Every time you’re diplomatic in the face of rudeness, you get a fist-bump...”
– @ev via twitter
1 tag
Sadly Beautiful - The Replacements
Many die hard...
Kindle vs Kindle
I don’t own a Kindle. I’ve tried the original Kindle and l also played with my friends Kindle DX.
I just don’t want to carry around another separate device. It just not for me.
Last week my friend Stu told me to download the Kindle app for iPhone. I did it at the time but I thought I’d never want to read an actual book on the iPhone.
Also at Stu’s recommendation I...
“i wasn’t born a programmer. i became one because i was impatient.”
– @davewiner
Beginner’s Luck - Eels
Great song. Thanks to Fred...